A supply chain executive at J.C. Penney says the retailer hopes to see ocean carriers and logistics operators provide 53-foot containers for U.S. importers, a shift away from longtime industry equipment standards.

Richard Wallace, vice president of supply chain operations at J.C. Penney, said the move from 20-foot and 40-foot boxes would bring greater flexibility and lower handling costs for the huge volume of imports the company brings to the U.S. West Coast and sends on to population centers in the East.

"We would love to see 53-foot ocean containers," Wallace told the annual joint meeting this week of the National Industrial Transportation League, Intermodal Association of North America and Transportation Intermediaries Association in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

"We would love to see greater flexibility and that would give us an opportunity to eliminate transloading and to load the box directly for inland distribution," he said.

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