The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach has announced that consideration of the “Container Dwell Fee” would be held off for another week, until December 13 citing improvements in port movements.
Since the fee was announced on October 25, the twin ports noted that they have seen a combined decline of 37% in aging cargo on the docks.
The executive directors of both ports said they will reassess fee implementation after another week of monitoring data.
"Under the temporary policy approved Oct. 29 by the Harbor Commissions of both ports, ocean carriers can be charged for each import container that falls into one of two categories: In the case of containers scheduled to move by truck, ocean carriers could be charged for every container dwelling nine days or more," the statement said.
"For containers moving by rail, ocean carriers could be charged if a container has dwelled for six days or more. Currently, no date has been set to start the count with respect to container dwell time," it added.
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 container leaves the terminal.
Port of LA and Long Beach noted that before the pandemic-induced import surge began in mid-2020, on average, containers for local delivery remained on container terminals under four days, while containers destined for trains dwelled less than two days.
"Any fees collected from dwelling cargo will be reinvested for programs designed to enhance efficiency, accelerate cargo velocity and address congestion impacts," the statement said, adding that the policy was developed in coordination with the Biden-Harris Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, U.S. Department of Transportation and multiple supply chain stakeholders.