West Coast container dwell fee policy remains on hold

Leaders at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach have delayed implementation of a Container Dwell Fee announced in late October, this time until Jan. 3.

The ports have seen a combined decline of more than 40% in aging cargo on the docks, largely due to the year-end holidays. Executives at both ports said they will reassess fee implementation after monitoring port data over the next week. They have postponed fee implementation since the program was approved by the Harbor Commissions of both ports on October 29.

Under the temporary policy, ocean carriers can be charged for each import container that falls into one of two categories: For containers scheduled to move by truck, ocean carriers could be charged for every container dwelling nine days or more; for containers moving by rail, ocean carriers could be charged if a container has dwelled for six days or more. The ports have not yet set a date for when the dwell time count would begin.

The ports plan to charge ocean carriers in these two categories $100 per container, increasing in $100 increments per container per day until the container leaves the terminal.

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, port officials said. Any fees collected from the program will be reinvested in port efforts to improve efficiency, accelerate cargo velocity, and address congestion issues, officials also said.