Ports Keep ‘Container Dwell Fee’ On Hold

Long Beach, Los Angeles to reassess activation on April 1

Port of Long BeachThe Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles announced today that consideration of the “Container Dwell Fee” will be delayed another week, until April 1.

The two San Pedro Bay ports have seen a combined decline of 57% in aging cargo on the docks since the program was announced on Oct. 25.

The executive directors of both ports will reassess fee implementation after monitoring data over the next week. Fee implementation has been postponed by both ports since the start of the program.

Under the temporary policy, ocean carriers can be charged for each import container dwelling nine days or more at the terminal. Currently, no date has been set to start the count with respect to container dwell time. 

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

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.

The Port of Long Beach is one of the world’s premier seaports, a gateway for trans-Pacific trade and a trailblazer in goods movement and environmental stewardship. As the second-busiest container seaport in the United States, the Port handles trade valued at more than $200 billion annually and supports 2.6 million trade-related jobs across the nation, including 575,000 in Southern California.