The Association of Bi-State Motor Carriers representing truckers in New York and New Jersey have filed an official request for a rulemaking with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC).
The request seeks the FMC to establish guardrails and responsibilities regarding the lack of and ever-changing empty return locations.
As the petition states, there is a “systemic, persistent and nationwide problem” regarding empty returns. When terminals are short on space, truckers are diverted, frequently with little or no notice, to off-dock depots or are required to store containers until space and appointments opens.
It is the trucker who has been required to absorb the extra costs and loss of productivity associated with the lack of return locations. This petition seeks to put an end to that practice.
The petition highlights that “for years, motor carriers have encountered terminals that refuse to accept empties, restrict empty returns to narrow windows, or close empty return yards altogether. These unfair practices constitute an enduring systemic problem that commercial solutions have failed to resolve, and they warrant the Commission’s exercise of rulemaking authority.”