Truck next to variety of color containers

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has said the passing of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) should, first and foremost, not make things worse. Well, it has!

OSRA shifted the responsibility of demurrage management and collection from the marine terminals to the ocean carriers, effective June 24, 2022. The problem is the ocean carriers are woefully unprepared to manage this process. They have no visibility to the date containers truly become available, especially when containers sit in closed yard locations for two weeks or are idle awaiting movement to an off-dock depot. As far as the ocean carriers know, the containers are available and accruing demurrage.

Once the containers actually become available, the fight begins. Days, a multitude of emails and numerous phone calls later, the free time is either extended or the importer, anxious to get their cargo and stop the demurrage, pays the charges.

The FMC has established an easy to use “Charge Complaint” process to address the assessment of these types of charges which are in violation of OSRA. Charge Complaints can be submitted via email. For more information on the process and to file a claim click here.

Latest News

CARB SETBACK

Both the US Congress and US Senate voted to revoke the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) waivers allowing the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to continue to enact their low-NOx Omnibus regulation as well as their Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) regulation. The...

ROMPING GOOD TIME

The Reno Rodeo was ranked the 4th best rodeo in the country by the readers of USA Today. The "Wildest, Richest Rodeo in the West" is a ten-day event starting June 19th. Get your tickets here and enjoy all the fun.

CLOSE CALL

Imagine waking up with a containership in your front yard. That is exactly what happened to Johan Helberg of Byneset Norway. The 443 NCL Salten failed to turn when entering the Trondheim fjord and landed in his front yard, mere feet from his house. Thankfully, no one...

TARIFF TUNAROUND

Tariff activity is difficult to keep track of as it changes constantly. Below is a recap of what transpired last month. On May 12th, tariffs between China and the US were temporarily slashed from 125% to 10%. For cargo from China to the US, this decrease put tariffs...

IN OTHER NEWS

Modern Worker Empowerment Act is a bill seeking to codify a clear and straightforward definition of Independent Contractor and provide certainty to truck drivers, gig workers and anyone choosing the independent lifestyle. Currently, the rules and definitions are...

Share This