The San Pedro Bay ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have postponed consideration of a “Container Dwell Fee” for another month. Officials set a new target date: Aug. 26.
Port officials initially announced a temporary policy change in October 2021 that would impose a fee on ocean carriers for each import container dwelling nine days or more at a port terminal.
The eventual plan is to charge ocean carriers $100 per container, increasing in $100 increments per container per day until the container leaves the terminal. Fees collected from dwelling cargo will be reinvested in programs to enhance port efficiency, accelerate cargo velocity and address congestion impacts.
After announcing the plan, the two ports have already seen a combined decline of 26% in aging cargo on the docks.
The executive directors of both ports will reassess fee implementation after monitoring data over the next month. 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.
In May 2021, the Port of Los Angeles experienced its busiest month ever, handling more than 1 million 20-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in a month, a first ever for a port in the Western Hemisphere. That milestone was preceded by 10 consecutive months of year-over-year increases in TEUs.
A TEU is a unit of cargo capacity used for container ships and ports based on the volume of a 20-foot-long metal box that can be transferred between different transports, such as ships, trains and trucks.
In 2021, the Port of Los Angeles facilitated $294 billion in trade and handled a total of 10.7 million container units, the busiest calendar year ever for the port. In the first five months of 2022, the port processed more than 4.5 million TEUs, equal to last year’s record-setting pace.
The Port of Long Beach achieved its most active June and busiest quarter on record this year, boosted by increased consumer demand as retailers stock shelves for back-to-school shopping.
“We are anticipating a robust summer season as consumer demand continues to drive cargo to our docks,” said Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero in a recent press release. “We expect to remain moderately busy in the coming months, and we will work to promptly process containers lingering at the port.”
According to port authorities, the cargo influx has come as pandemic-induced shutdowns were lifted in China and retailers stocked up on back-to-school supplies. There has also been ongoing consumer demand, despite inflation and the potential threat of an economic recession.
