Nov 16, 2021 - Update 4
As previously communicated, the Port Authorities of Los Angeles and Long Beach had effective the 25th of October provided it’s notice of intention to start billing a “Container Excess Dwell Fee” commencing the 15th of November. The fee would go into effect should the ports not see a material improvement in the clearance of long dwelling containers at the terminals.
This advisory serves as a notification to inform customers of the decision by the Port Authority to delay the introduction of the fee by a week until the 22nd of November. Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka was quoted in saying “There’s been significant improvement in clearing import containers from our docks in recent weeks”. In fact, since the fee was announced on the 25th of October, they have seen a decline of 26% on the combined ageing of cargo on their docks.
Maersk continues to explore different options in moving longstanding containers to help customers mitigate exposure to this new government fee. This includes but is not limited to the railing of long dwelling cargo to inland points in cooperation with our railroad partners. We ask for your continued support in prioritizing the pickup of ageing cargo in Long Angeles and Long Beach as we work to decongest the marine terminals and with that allow vessels to discharge your freight.
Nov 12, 2021 - Update 3
As the November 15th effective billing date on the new Container Excess Dwell fee looms, Maersk is aggressively working on developing as many solutions as possible for our customers. However, we still have many containers over 9 days inside the terminals, so we are in the process of securing additional land outside the marine terminals to offer extended storage solutions. If you have difficulty picking up your cargo, please reach out to your customer service representative to review which containers should be drayed to an off-dock location and we will make every effort to assist you.
FAQ's - Updated
The program will go into effect on the 1st of November, but penalties will not be assessed until effective the 15th of November. This two-week grace period has been given to allow cargo interest parties with the appropriate time to clear the docks. Should material progress be made, it is at the discretion of the Port Executive Director to extend that effective fee assessment date even further.
The fee will be assessed on all containers dwelling for 9 days or more on truck moves or for 6 days or more on rail bound move. The 9th day and 6th day respectively will be the first charge day
Local Import Loaded Container
|
Days on Terminal
|
Daily charge ($)
|
Cumulative charge ($)
|
|
Days on Terminal
9
|
Daily charge ($)
$100
|
Cumulative charge ($)
$100
|
|
Days on Terminal
10
|
Daily charge ($)
$200
|
Cumulative charge ($)
$300
|
|
Days on Terminal
11
|
Daily charge ($)
$300
|
Cumulative charge ($)
$600
|
|
Days on Terminal
12
|
Daily charge ($)
$400
|
Cumulative charge ($)
$1000
|
|
Days on Terminal
13
|
Daily charge ($)
$500
|
Cumulative charge ($)
$1500
|
|
Days on Terminal
More than 13
|
Daily charge ($)
Incremental $100 increase per day with no limit
|
Cumulative charge ($)
|
Intermodel Import Loaded Container
|
Days on Terminal
|
Daily Charge($)
|
Cumulative Charge($)
|
|
Days on Terminal
6
|
Daily Charge($)
$100
|
Cumulative Charge($)
$100
|
|
Days on Terminal
7
|
Daily Charge($)
$200
|
Cumulative Charge($)
$300
|
|
Days on Terminal
8
|
Daily Charge($)
$300
|
Cumulative Charge($)
$600
|
|
Days on Terminal
9
|
Daily Charge($)
$400
|
Cumulative Charge($)
$1000
|
|
Days on Terminal
10
|
Daily Charge($)
$500
|
Cumulative Charge($)
$1500
|
|
Days on Terminal
More than 10
|
Daily Charge($)
Incremental $100 increase per day with no limit
|
Cumulative Charge($)
|
All import containers on terminal that are dwelling for more than 8 days effective the 15th of November are deemed to be at 9 days dwelling for purposes of fee charges regardless of how long the container has been dwelling.
As per the Port Authority of Los Angeles Tariff No.4 circular found at below downloadable attachment, we do not see any verbiage that supports the retroactive application of the fee.
The charge will only be applicable to all waterfront terminal dwelling import containers. The charge will not be applicable to any non-waterfront rail yard containers.
The relevant Port Authority will be charging the fee.
The Port Authority of Los Angeles Tariff No. 4 states: “This Excessive Dwell Fee shall be billed directly to the Ocean Carrier under whose bill of lading a Container subject to the fee was discharged…” This means that the Ports are submitting the bill to Ocean Carriers to act as collection agent to charge those with a cargo interest in the laden import containers.
Yes, should your container not be removed beyond the defined dwell times, Maersk will pass this cost onto all customers as the owner of the cargo that is dwelling on the terminal, resulting in the fee from the Ports.
Maersk will issue an invoice for the accumulated owed fee.
The surcharge will be applied based on calendar days, inclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
Discharge from the vessel will constitute day 0. Days are then measured based on the completion of a 24-hour period commencing 3:00AM each calendar day.
While Maersk will still be subject to the fee by the Port Authority, for through bills to inland rail locations where the container was subject to delays, Maersk will not pass this fee onto the customer.
There is no maximum cap on the fee that will be applied.
No, all containers will be subject to the fee irrespective of release status.
No, the fee will not be applicable unless the delay is caused by a freight, OBL, customs hold (exam or any government inspection) or any receiving constraints at the customer’s warehouse.
The customer is responsible for the fee on all Customer Preferred Trucker moves.
This is a government impelled charge, the no-new-fee clause does not apply in this instance.
Maersk has published a new surcharge in its tariff under the name “Emergency Government Port Storage Charge”. The published tariff rule allows for this new surcharge to be applicable effective immediately. Customers can therefore expect this surcharge to be applied on the same timeline as announced by the Ports.
We are unfortunately unable to waive this government-mandated fee due to lack of chassis. For CY and SD (CPT) moves, the trucker nominated by the customer is responsible for securing the chassis.
APMT and TTI have confirmed that they will not be placing cargo in a closed area.
Customers will not be charged the fee if the container is not made available by the terminal for pickup.
The fee will generally apply even in situations where terminal appointments are not available if the Port Authority does not make any exceptions. We encourage truckers to maximize dual transactions and leverage weekday 2nd shifts and Saturday gates when there are typically ample appointments available.
We are working to secure additional space in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area to offer long-term storage solutions. Truck power and chassis availability is however limited so please let us know what cargo cannot be picked up directly from the terminals so we can assess whether it can be drayed to a holding yard.
The container will no longer be subject to the Emergency fee but will continue to be subjected to demurrage fees.
Yes, a drayage fee will be applicable.
As there are only a finite amount of capacity at these holding yards, movement will be subject to availability. Please contact your customer service representative for more information.
Containers will not be placed on hold subject to payment of the excess dwell fee. Instead, collection will be done as a follow up process. Container demurrage holds will continue to be applied per current standard practice.
Note: We are still actively working with both regulators and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach alike to gain a full understanding of all the issues at hand and as more information becomes available, trust we will do our utmost to keep you informed.
Nov 1, 2021 - Update 2
As a follow up to the advisory sent on Oct 27th found here, and as it pertains to the new government mandated PSW Emergency fee, this update will serve to provide you with the most frequently asked questions for the matter at hand. It must be noted that we are still actively working with both regulators and the port of Los Angeles and Long Beach alike to gain a full understanding of all the issues at hand and as more information becomes available, trust we will do our utmost to keep you informed.
FAQ's
The program will go into effect on the 1st of November, but penalties will not be assessed until effective the 15th of November. This two-week grace period has been given to allow shippers with the appropriate time to clear the docks. Should material progress be made, it is at the discretion of the Port Executive Director to extend that effective fee assessment date even further.
To the best of our knowledge, charges will be applied retroactively for all containers on terminal effective Nov 15th.
The fee will be assessed on all containers dwelling for 9 days or more on truck moves or for 6 days or more for rail bound containers. The 9th day and 6th day respectively will be the first charge day.
The fee will be $100 for day 1, $200 for day 2, $300 for day 3 and so on.
The surcharge will be applied based on calendar days, inclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
We are still working with the terminals to have this clarified but to the best of our knowledge, the fee will still be applied.
We are still working with the terminals to have this clarified but to the best of our knowledge, yes it will be applied.
There is no maximum cap on the fee that will be applied.
No, we expect all containers to be subject to the fee irrespective of release status.
Even for MPTs, the fee will be applicable if the delay was caused by a line or customs hold, or when the cargo is subject to an exam or any government inspection.
The no-new-fee surcharge clause does not apply to government impelled charges.
Maersk will publish the new surcharge in its tariff. Although we will continue to work with customers to evacuate their long-dwell cargo, customers should be prepared for this surcharge to be applied on the same timeline as the Ports have announced.
We expect the Port Authorities to bill Maersk and for the charge to either be billed directly to customers or for the terminal operator to collect the same on our behalf prior to the release of cargo.
We are unfortunately unable to waive a government-mandated fee due to lack of chassis. For CY and SD (CPT) moves, the trucker nominated by the customer is responsible to secure chassis.
We are actively working with the terminals to clarify.
We are actively working with the terminals to clarify.
We are actively working with the terminals to clarify.
We are working on a number of solutions in the LA/LB area and can put the customer in contact with Hudd to discuss potential drayage and long-term storage solutions.
Oct 27, 2021 - Update 1
As terminal congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach reach historical levels, The Biden Administration announced on October 25th that effective the 1st of November 2021, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will begin charging an “emergency fee” on all long dwelling cargo.
- The fee will be applied to all containers that remain at the terminal for 9 days or more and rail containers for 6 days or more.
- The cost is $100 per container on the first day past the set dwelling limit for terminal or rail and will increase by $100 increments for each day that follows (i.e., $200 for day 2, $300 for day 3 and so on).
As directed by the President’s Task Force and in concert with the directive, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will be responsible for collecting the fees, with the revenue set to be reinvested toward long term port efficiency and infrastructure programs that will help mitigate any future congestion challenges in the San Pedro Bay area. Given the 7-day notice period, much of how the cost will be charged and in turn collected is still to be determined. More will be shared in the coming days as we approach the 1st of November start date.
Naturally we understand this puts all parties involved in a rather difficult situation as truck, chassis and warehouse capacity are all extremely stretched. Rest assured, we are aggressively working on several solutions to help mitigate some of the impacts. We will continue to keep you informed on all developments over the coming days.
