Trailer Bridge Awarded Second U.S. Patent

Business Wire, Jan 15, 2003

Business Editors

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 15, 2003

Trailer Bridge, Inc. (NASDAQ National Market: TRBR) today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has awarded a patent related to the method of loading vehicles in and unloading vehicles from Trailer Bridge's previously patented Vehicle Transportation Module(R) (VTM(R)) container.

Trailer Bridge was informed by the USPTO that Patent No. 6,503,034 was issued on January 7, 2003. Previously, Patent No. 6,416,264 was awarded on July 9, 2002 to Trailer Bridge as assignee for the invention of the Vehicle Transportation Module (VTM) container.

The inventors of both patents are Ralph W. Heim, J. Edward Morley and P.W. Shahani. Mr. Heim is President and Chief Operating Officer of Trailer Bridge and Mr. Morley is Vice President of Operations. Mr. Shahani is a consulting engineer who has provided services to the Company.

The method of loading and unloading automobiles that is being patented includes locating the VTM container on an external surface, driving the vehicles from the external surface into the VTM container and then securing the vehicles inside. Combining the best features of roll-on, roll-off and lift-on, lift-off, the VTM container and the related method of loading has been successfully used in transporting over twenty thousand vehicles between US mainland ports and Puerto Rico. Trailer Bridge believes the range of potential uses for the VTM container extends beyond the ocean transportation sector and will continue to explore various further applications.

Trailer Bridge presently has another patent application pending before the USPTO related to the methods involved in loading, unloading and moving freight on its innovative Triplestack Box Carrier(R) vessels. Generally referred to as a process patent, this application was initially filed in 1998 and Trailer Bridge and its patent advisers continue to respond to USPTO staff observations related to that patent application.

"We have received a number of inquiries related to our VTM container technology," said Ralph W. Heim, President and COO, "and the range of potential uses for the safe and damage-free movement of cars over water, over rail and over the road are quite extensive."

John D. McCown, Chairman & CEO, added, "The award of our second patent in the last six months is another welcomed milestone for us. In the freight business, hard, tangible assets have been and will always be the key differentiating factor in terms of cost-efficiency among competitors. Trailer Bridge has excellent assets and we are continuously seeking to develop even better assets to more efficiently handle our customers' freight requirements. When that leads to innovative and unique assets such as our VTM container or Triplestack Box Carrier system, we will do everything we can to protect those assets for the long-term benefit of Trailer Bridge's shareholders."

Trailer Bridge provides integrated trucking and marine freight service to and from all points in the lower 48 states and Puerto Rico, bringing efficiency, environmental and safety benefits to domestic cargo in that traffic lane. This total transportation system utilizes its own trucks, drivers, trailers, containers and U.S. flag vessels to link the mainland with Puerto Rico via marine facilities in Jacksonville and San Juan. Additional information on Trailer Bridge is available at the www.trailerbridge.com website.

This press release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The matters discussed in this press release include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Company, its directors or its officers with respect to the future operating performance of the Company. Investors are cautioned that any such forward looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those in the forward looking statements as a result of various factors. Without limitation, these risks and uncertainties include the risks of the company maintaining sufficient liquidity to operate its business, continued support of its lenders, vendors and employees, economic recessions, severe weather, changes in demand for transportation services offered by the Company, capacity conditions in the Puerto Rico trade lane and changes in rate levels for transportation services offered by the Company.