West Coast’s container dwell fee on hold through May 6

Port of Long BeachThe San Pedro Bay ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles will once again delay consideration of the “Container Dwell Fee” for another week, this time until May 6.

Since the program was announced on Oct. 25, the two ports have seen a combined decline of 50% in aging cargo on the docks. 

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 Long Beach and Los Angeles Boards of Harbor Commissioners have extended the fee program through July 28. It had been due to expire today, April 29.

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.