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As an update to our last Customer Advisory, under the guidance of the Biden-Harris Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, the LA/LB ports “Container Excess Dwell Fee” scheduled to be assessed from Nov. 15th at first.
As far as we are concerned, the Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles announced today that they will delay theassessment until Nov. 22nd. As a government administrative charge, it will be passed through to customer.
Please kindly refer to below Q&A as a guidance to the implementation details of this new government-issued surcharge, which we wish could help you be better prepared in planning the supply chain without occurring extra cost.
Q1. Who is assessing this fee?
Under the guidance of the Biden-Harris Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, the Port Authority Los Angeles & Long Beach will be assessing this fee. This measure was taken under the aim of encouraging importers to retrieve long-dwelling containers and reduce historic congestion at marine terminals, so as to ease the congestion throughout supply chain.
Q2: How will the fee be used by LA/LB port authorities?
According to the notice, the collected fees will be reinvested in programs to improve terminal operational efficiency at both ports and ease the congestion across San Pedro Bay.
Q3: When will the LA/LB Ports Container Excess Dwell Fee go into effect?
As far as we are concerned, the Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles announced today that they will delay the assessment until Nov. 22. It will be charged on local import containers that stayed on LA/LB port terminals for over 8 days, and intermodal containers for over 5 days.
Q4：What is the fee structure?
According to the plan of LA/LB port authorities, local import containers with dwelling time for over 8 days will be charged the fee. The charge starts at $100/container on the 9th day of dwell, then escalate in increments of $100/container with each passing day. For example, if a container has sit on the terminal for 13 days (8 free days+5 charging days), it will be charged $1500/container.
For containers to be transported by rail, the charge starts at $100/container on the 6th day of dwell, then escalate in increments of $100/container with each passing day. For example, if a container has sit on the terminal for 10 days (5 free days+5 charging days), it will be charged $1500/container.
Q5: As a customer of COSCO SHIPPING Lines, should my container exceed the defined dwell times, will I be billed this fee? What is the fee structure?
As this is a government administrative fee, it will be collected by COSCO SHIPPING Lines from customers and handled to the LA/LB port authorities. The fee structure is the same as the port authorities.
Q6: If LA/LB port authorities decide to cancel the surcharge, will COSCO SHIPPING Lines cancel it as well?
Yes. COSCO SHIPPING Lines will follow the authorities to cancel the surcharge.
Q7: For shipments booked with COSCO SHIPPING Lines on a through bill to an inland rail location, should the container be subject to rail delays, will customer still be subject to the fee?
For through bills to inland rail locations via LA/LB ports where the container was subject to delays, COSCO SHIPPING Lines will not pass this fee onto the customer.
Q8: For shipments booked with COSCO SHIPPING Lines under carrier haulage of LA/LB local door service, will customers still be subject to the fee?
It depends on below two situations:
For door service with customer nominated trucker/ customer preferred trucker, the fee should be borne by customer;
For door service with COSCO SHIPPING Lines’ house trucker, COSCO SHIPPING Lines will be subject to the fee, but not under such circumstances as delay caused by customer reason, such as customs clearance issue, trade issue, refusal by consignee to accept the delivery appointment, etc… For delay caused by customer reason not limited to above listed, customers will be subject to the fee.
Q9: Will my shipment now sitting on the vessel to LA/LB be billed the fee?
Calculation of LA/LB Ports Container Excess Dwell Fee is based on the container’s over-dwell time at the terminal. Should it exceed the free dwell time, it will be subject to the fee. We’d like to suggest you to pick up containers soon after it is unloaded.
Q10: Will my shipment already sitting on LA/LB terminal be charged the fee?
Calculation of LA/LB Ports Container Excess Dwell Fee is based on the container’s over-dwell time at the terminal. For shipments arrived before the fee takes effect, should it exceed the free dwell time and not picked up in time, it will also be subject to the fee. We’d like to suggest you to pick up containers soon.
Q11: Will containers held for Customs Exam or other special reasons such as trade dispute be exempt?
No, all containers will be subject to the fee irrespective of release status by port authorities.
Q12: For USA import container that is going to be returned to Far East for special reason, does it apply to this fee?
As long as the container has dwelled at terminal for more than 8 days before reloading onto the vessel, it should be subject to the fee.
Q13: Should SOC shipment either loaded or empty be billed the fee?
The LA/LB Ports Container Excess Dwell Fee applies to every container type, both SOC and COC. As long as the container exceeds the free dwell time, customer will be subject to the fee.
Q14: Will shipment under “no new surcharge” clause be exempted？
No, as an administrative fee, the Excess Dwell Fee will be applied despite any “no new surcharge” clause.
Q15: Should my trucker told me that terminal has no pickup appointment available, what should I do?
There are many appointments available and unused at LA/LB port terminals, especially for the night gate shifts. Day-time shifts are more popular, truckers may be required to place an appointment 1-2 days in advance. If you may still find difficulties in placing appointment, please contact with the terminal and ask for assistant.
If your problem still cannot been resolved, we’d suggest you to try our import customer service platform as below for assistance and suggestions.
Platform address：https://coscoshippingla.freshdesk.com/
Q16: What if my trucker try to place an appointment but the container is inaccessible to pick up?
If you find your containers not accessible, please contact with the terminal and ask for assistance.
COSCO SHIPPING Lines attaches great importance to customers’ feedback and has coordinated with relevant suppliers on this issue. If your problem still cannot been resolved, we’d suggest you to try our import customer service platform as below for assistance and suggestions.
Platform address：https://coscoshippingla.freshdesk.com/
Q17: For certain reasons, my container will have to stay at terminal for a long time, what measures could COSCO SHIPPING Lines take to help avoid this charge?
To avoid additional cost, we strongly recommend you to pick up containers ASAP or to find alternative locations for storage. COSCO SHIPPING Lines will spare no efforts helping our customer, including but not limited to documentation adjustment, etc. COSCO SHIPPING Lines is working closely with our suppliers to find alternative solutions to help our valued customers avoid the charge.
Q18: What else has COSCO SHIPPING Lines done for customers？
COSCO SHIPPING Lines has arranged multiple sweepers to LA/LB ports to evacuate empties in order to release more space in terminal and facilitate the pick-up operation of our customers. For customers with lots of containers already sitting on LA/LB terminals, our sales representatives are communicating closely and assisting them to accelerate the pick-up.
COSCO SHIPPING Lines will spare no effort to help ease the port congestion and at the same time help our customers avoid additional cost. Lots of valuable advices from our customers have been heard and received.
We appreciate your coordinative efforts in recent weeks. With your involvement and joint efforts, backlog at the terminal hasdecreased. However, plenty of loaded containers are still sitting on the terminal. We’d like to appeal to our customers to pick up containers as soon as possible. We trust that we can get through the difficulties together.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your local representative.
Thanks for your kind understand!
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