‘Container dwell fee’ on hold until Nov. 29 at the Port of Long Beach

Following meetings today with U.S. Port Envoy John D. Porcari and industry stakeholders, the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles announced further postponement of the “Container Dwell Fee.” With continued progress moving containers off marine terminals, the fee will not be considered before Nov. 29.

Since the fee was announced on Oct. 25, the two ports have seen a decline of 33% combined in aging cargo on the docks. The executive directors of both ports are satisfied with the progress thus far and 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. For containers moving by rail, ocean carriers could be charged if a container has dwelled for six days or more.

The ports plan to charge ocean carriers in these two categories $100 per container, increasing in $100 increments per container per day until the container leaves the terminal.

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 policy was developed in coordination with the Biden-Harris Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, U.S. Department of Transportation and multiple supply chain stakeholders.