The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have postponed the implementation of the “container dwell fee” for another week, this time until 10 January.
This is the eighth time that the two Californian ports delay the implementation of the surcharge directed to ocean carriers for import containers that dwell on marine terminals.
Since the programme was announced on 25 October, the two ports have seen a combined decline of 35% in ageing cargo on the docks. As expected, the progress has slowed lately, due to year-end holidays, while the dwelling cargoes had been reduced by 47% three weeks ago.
The Harbor Commissions of both ports, in coordination with the Biden-Harris Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, the US Department of Transportation and multiple stakeholders, on 29 October approved the temporary policy that ocean carriers can be charged for each import container that falls into one of two below categories.
In the case of containers scheduled to move by truck, ocean carriers could be charged for every container dwelling for nine days or more, while for containers moving by rail, ocean carriers could be charged if a container has dwelled for six days or more.
Particularly, the ports plan to charge ocean carriers in these two categories US$100 per container, increasing in US$100 increments per container per day until the box leaves the terminal.
Currently, no date has been set to start the count with respect to container dwell time. Fee implementation has been postponed by both ports since the start of the programme, and if it takes effect, any fees collected will be reinvested for programs designed to enhance efficiency, accelerate cargo velocity and address congestion impacts, according to a statement.
