“Emergency Fee” at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach

The Southern Californian ports are reporting “progress” at terminals with a combined decline of 37% in aging cargo on the docks since the new container dwell fee was announced on October 25th.

As of Monday, the Port of Los Angeles was still showing19,695 import containersdwelling past the 9+ day limit, while the Port of Long Beachshows 20,275 dwellingpast the limit.

The new fee will remain on hold until 6 December, while this is the third postponement of the container dwell fee. The Southern Californian ports initially announced that the container dwell fee will be implemented on 1 November, but the progress they see on its terminals has led them to suspend it for 22, 29 November, and now for 6 December. As a reminder, this is an additional charge that applies to the carrier’s demurrage free time.

For fee structure please refer to the below:

Local Import Loaded Containers

Intermodal Import Loaded Containers

Please see the below links for additional information and to view the updated official Ports’ announcements:

• Port Of Los Angeles: ‘CONTAINER DWELL FEE’ REMAINS ON HOLD UNTIL DEC. 6
• Port Of Long Beach: ‘CONTAINER DWELL FEE’ REMAINS ON HOLD UNTIL DEC. 6

The fee will be applied to all containers that remain at the terminal for 9 days or more and rail containers for 3 days or more. This charge applies in addition to the carrier's demurrage of free time.

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).

The announced fees were developed in coordination with the White House's Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and several supply chain stakeholders. The announced purpose of the "Emergency Fee" is to incentivize timely removal of cargoes from the San Pedro Bay terminals, improving the fluidity of the supply chain and reducing the critical level of congestion in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The Ports will collect those fees directly from Ocean Carriers and the revenue will be re-invested by the Ports for programs designed to enhance the efficiency, accelerate cargo velocity, and address the impact of congestion throughout San Pedro Bay.

The current congestion situation is having a severe impact on all that is involved in the transport chain. As the intent to begin assessing this charge had only been announced this week and with only a one-week lead time, several details are still being worked out by the Ports.

Please see the below links for additional information and to view the official Ports' announcements:

• Port of Los Angeles Press Release Oct 25, 2021
• Port of Long Beach Press Release Oct 25, 2021

We will continue monitoring the situation and communicate the latest update as they are made available.