With backlogs of aging cargo on local docks now significantly eased, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will end the Container Dwell Fee on Jan. 24, officials announced on Friday, Dec. 26.
The twin ports, historically the two busiest in the nation — though the New York-New Jersey port has surpassed them in recent months — announced the fee on ocean carriers on Oct. 25, 2021, as containers piled up during an unprecedented cargo surge, affecting the nation’s supply chain.
But the fee never went into effect. Shippers were able to more quickly move their long-dwelling cargo off the docks, so the ports repeatedly delayed implementing the fee, citing voluntary compliance.
The ports on Friday announced that they have seen a 92% combined decline in aging cargo on docks since the prigram began.
“This fee was conceived as an incentive to ease congestion, keeping imported goods flowing to stores across America,” Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero said in a statement. “Measured by this standard, we can all appreciate the policy’s success, and best of all, the fee was never implemented.
“We thank cargo owners and terminal operators for working with us to make operations more efficient,” he added, “and of course, dockworkers for their dedicated labor.”
The fee policy had been developed in coordination with the Biden-Harris Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Port of Long Beach and supply chain stakeholders.
The fee — had it been implemented — would have begun at $100 per container, increasing by $100 per container each day. Containers set to be transported by truck and rail would have incurred fines if cargo remained in port for nine days or more.
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Despite repeatedly postponing the Container Dwell Fee, the LA and Long Beach ports extended the program mulitple times. Initially, the program was only supposed to last three months. Once it ends altogether in January, the program would have lasted about 15 months.
Neither port plans to extend the program beyond Jan. 24, officials said.
“I said when we launched this program that I hoped we would never collect a dime because that would mean that containers were moving off our docks,” Gene Seroka, executive director for the Port of Los Angeles, said in a Friday statement. “And that’s exactly what occurred. I’m grateful to the cargo owners and all our waterfront workers for all their successful efforts to improve the efficiency of our operations.”