Pacific carriers add U.S. rail, truck fuel surcharges
Container shipping lines of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA) said Friday they will extend their practice of charging variable fuel surcharges to the inland rail and truck portions of intermodal shipments, with the introduction of inland fuel surcharges.
Effective Aug. 15, the initial inland fuel surcharges of $137 per container for mini-landbridge and inland point intermodal shipments, and $40 per container for local and regional U.S. West Coast truck moves within California, Oregon and Washington, and for East Coast local store-door truck moves.
The ocean carriers want to pass on to shippers the extra fuel costs they have experienced from their truck and rail vendors. Class 1 railroads, along with long-haul and regional trucking firms, have been imposing and increasing fuel surcharges to recover these costs since the beginning of 2005. BNSF is also planning to introduce the railroad industry’s first distance-based fuel surcharge, effective Jan. 1.
The TSA said its members have been “hit by an ongoing wave of increasing inland fuel surcharges and rates from intermodal rail and truck partners.”
The TSA is believed to be the first carrier agreement to introduce an inland fuel surcharge. Its surcharge will “float” in accordance with fluctuations to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national diesel price index, using the Class 1 railroad historic baseline fuel price and tiers to trigger adjustments. The surcharge will be adjusted on a quarterly basis — on Jan. 1, April 1, July 1 and Oct. 1 — to reflect fuel price trends.
“Since the beginning of 2005, DOE reports that the per-gallon diesel fuel price has risen about 23 percent from $1.96 to $2.41,” the TSA said.
“Ocean carriers face a range of new charges from railroads and trucking companies, aimed at addressing higher diesel fuel prices in the market,” said TSA executive director Albert A. Pierce. Most have been introduced since the latest round of 2005-2006 transpacific service contract negotiations were concluded, according to the carrier group.
