This week, with the support of President Biden’s new Supply Chain Disruption Task Force, the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach announced an emergency daily fee charged to ocean carriers for containers dwelling at California’s marine terminals.
Starting November 1, 2021, both ports will begin charging ocean carriers $100 per container and increasing the fee in $100 increments per container per day.
In the new policy, containers will be classified in one of two ways:
- For containers scheduled to move by truck, ocean carriers will be charged for every container dwelling 9 days or more
- For containers moving by rail, ocean carriers will be charged for every container dwelling 6 days or more
Most ocean carriers have made announcements to customers regarding the emergency surcharge, however, some have been more vague than others on how the charge may be passed on to the shipper.
Port of Los Angeles Press Release: https://www.portoflosangeles.org/references/2021-news-releases/news_102521_jointclearcargo
Port of Long Beach Press Release: https://polb.com/port-info/news-and-press/san-pedro-bay-ports-announce-new-measure-to-clear-cargo-10-25-2021/
Fees collected from dwelling cargo will be re-invested by the two ports for programs designed to enhance efficiency, accelerate cargo velocity, and address congestion impacts throughout the San Pedro Bay.
“We must expedite the movement of cargo through the ports to work down the number of ships at anchor,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. “Approximately 40% of the containers on our terminals today fall into the two categories. If we can clear this idling cargo, we’ll have much more space on our terminals to accept empties, handle exports, and improve fluidity for the wide range of cargo owners who utilize our ports.”
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