Truckers hail passage of Ocean Shipping Reform Act

American Trucking Associations leaders hailed passage of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, and urged President Biden to quickly sign the bill aimed at improving efficiency in our supply chain.

“This day has been a long time coming,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “This bill provides important tools to address unjustified and illegal fees collected from American truckers by the ocean shipping cartel – fees that have contributed to the shipping lines raking in $150 billion in profits just last year. Those fees hurt American motor carriers and consumers – helping to drive record inflation. We thank Congress for passing this bipartisan solution and urge President Biden to quickly sign it into law.”

The House passed the bill 369-42 this evening, following passage in the Senate by voice vote on March 31.

“This is the first significant change to ocean shipping regulations in more than two decades – a period of time when the industry has been shaped into a cartel of 10 foreign-owned companies who have exercised a tremendous amount of power over American truckers and consumers,” said ATA Intermodal Motor Carrier Conference Director Jonathan Eisen. “Thanks to this bipartisan legislation, those carriers will no longer be able to charge truckers exorbitant and illegal detention and demurrage fees, increasing efficiency and reducing costs across the supply chain.”