Long Beach cuts storage time by a day
Beginning July 1, shippers will have four days instead of five to move their shipping containers out of terminals at the Port of Long Beach before late fees begin to accrue.
The port, as expected, decided Monday to reduce by a day the amount of free time boxes can be temporarily stored free of charge. Free time was reduced from seven to six business days for export cargo.
The Harbor Commission also voted to change the method for calculating free time to the day after a container is actually unloaded rather than the current practice of starting the clock when the ship has completed discharge of all containers. Shippers whose boxes are offloaded first can actually receive more than 10 days of free time under the current system because it can take up to five days to unload a ship and weekends do not count toward the free time limit. Los Angeles area customs brokers have complained that there is no system in place to track when containers are offloaded and communicate the information to shippers in a timely fashion so they can schedule truckers to pick up their boxes. They say they will have to call the terminal to find out when each container was unloaded.
Free time calculations will not begin for cargo held by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for security-related inspections until the cargo is released for pickup, according to a news release issued by the port.
Demurrage, or storage fees, at Los Angeles area terminals range from $60 to $75 or more.
The reduction in free time is part of a trend among ports, terminal operators and railroads to increase efficiency, address equipment shortages and reduce the backlog of containers that are delaying truckers and tying up valuable property. Ocean carriers and railroads are also raising their demurrage fees to encourage shippers to quickly pick up their cargo. In May, Maersk Sealand boosted U.S. demurrage charges to $225 per day for dry cargo, $400 per day for refrigerated cargo and $275 per day for other types of equipment at most of its terminals and inland depots. It also cut free time to four days for dry containers.
Terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey, as well as other ports, have implemented similar free time reduction policies in recent months.
Earlier this year the California Association of Port Authorities authorized member ports to reduce free time and the way free time is calculated.