We reported a few days ago that the Port of Los Angeles in the United States issued an announcement stating that in order to improve the efficiency of U.S. port operations and improve congestion, the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach will implement a new policy – charging new surcharges to shipping companies. Applicable to imported containers stranded at the terminal.
Starting from November 1, the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach will charge shipping companies a surcharge of US$100/box for the following two types of cargo, And the daily increase is USD 100/box.
For the first category, for containers planned to be transported by truck, if the stay time at the terminal exceeds 9 days (including 9 days), the above-mentioned surcharge will be charged to the shipping company.
For the second category, for containers transported by rail, if the stay time at the terminal exceeds 3 days (including 3 days), the above-mentioned surcharge will be charged to the shipping company. —The free stay period was raised to 5 days yesterday.
With the terrible “incremental” charges, the monthly bill per container will be as high as $46,500!
What kind of mystery does this seemingly ordinary new rule hide, and how big of a hole is it digging for cargo owners? Give an example to illustrate the above charges:
For local lockers in Los Angeles/Long Beach, charges will start on the 9th day, and an additional $100 will be added every day after the expiration date.
For example, 100 will be charged on the first day it expires; 200 will be charged on the second day… and so on.
IPI inland transportation cabinets will be charged from the 6th day, and the algorithm is similar.
According to this superimposed charging method, the fine is a staggering figure: if a cabinet is overdue for 5 days, the fine is US$1,500; if it is overdue for 6 days, the fine is US$2,100; $46,500!
As we all know, the current congestion situation in Los Angeles and Long Beach is extremely serious. The number of container ships in the berthing areas of the Los Angeles and Long Beach terminals has reached nearly 80.
On average, 8,000 trucks are needed to pull away the containers loaded by an ocean-going ship. Therefore, just to pull the containers stranded on ships outside these ports will require more than 600,000 large trucks. If you connect all these trucks together, the length is nearly 10,000 kilometers! As you can imagine, this is a huge project.
It is reported that on Wednesday (27th), two days after the launch of new charging regulations at the Los Angeles and Long Beach terminals, the National Shippers (Cargo Owners) Council (NSAC) held an emergency meeting.
After careful analysis and research on the new regulations, NSAC members found that once the new regulations are implemented, it will have “catastrophic” consequences for cargo owners and freight forwarding companies!
According to the requirements of the new regulations, this fee will first be paid by the shipping company. But what is certain is that the shipping company will almost certainly pass on all the charges to the shipper (the freight forwarder of the cargo owner or agent), which will increase by US$100 per day on the original basis! This is equivalent to an unreasonable “usury” for the cargo owner!
Rich Roche, vice president of international transportation for Mohawk Global Logistics, said at the NSAC conference: “The ‘super demurrage’ announced in Los Angeles/Long Beach, I think it will be catastrophic. “
Steve Hughes, a representative of the Motor Equipment & Manufacturing Association, said: “I’m worried about this. This new fee will create more problems than it solves because we have low tow volume at the terminal gates.”
High fees will be passed on to cargo owners and freight forwarding companies
Matt, CEO of the American Port Freight Association Within minutes of the announcement, Schlapp said, liner companies began sending emails to U.S. importers reminding them to prepare for the new charges.
He said: “It is obvious that they do not intend to bear these costs and therefore optimize their business, but transfer them to the cargo owners, which means that the final costs still have to be transferred To American consumers.”
According to Gemini Shippers Group President Ken O’Brien, “What happened at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach this week is really about American consumers. An indirect tax levied.”
Relying on sky-high fees can solve the congestion problem at the West American ports ?
The purpose of the Los Angeles/Long Beach tolling plan is to forcefully clear the terminals and speed up container transportation. NSAC members believe these emergency port charges will not speed up the flow of containers given current supply chain conditions.
Adnan Qadri, Director of Global Import at Amazon, said: “In the past, the original intent of detention and demurrage was to encourage faster turnarounds, equipment returns, and bring flow to networks and supply chains. sex. But judging from the current operation of the supply chain, I don’t think detention and demurrage have any incentive effect.
“It is difficult for us (Amazon) to understand these detention and demurrage charges. The idea of demurrage charges, [given] the way the current supply chain is set up, those charges are not going to drive any positive behavior. ”
“My concern is that these policies will not bring any benefit to our current situation,” the Amazon official said.�The executive said. </p
