In June 2022, the US Congress passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA-22). This legislation prohibited ocean carriers from “unreasonably” refusing export cargo as well as “unreasonably” assessing demurrage and detention charges. It also gave the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) the authority to develop and enforce rules surrounding the assessment of these charges.

Last month, the US Congress updated the law to get tough on China by protecting data and banning the software on ship-to-shore cranes manufactured in China and installed at US ports. It also more clearly defined what a “controlled carrier” is as well as created an avenue to file a complaint with the FMC regarding market manipulation by foreign rate indexes or shipping exchanges.

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CARB WITHDRAWS WAIVER REQUEST

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) withdrew its request with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a waiver to implement its Advanced Clean Fleet (ACF) rule. ACF had been "on hold" for the past year because CARB realized in November 2023 they did not...

GUNG HEI FAT CHOI

Happy Chinese New Year and welcome to the Year of the Snake, more specifically, the Wood Snake. You can see your horoscope for the New Year here. In the meantime, some interesting facts about Chinese New Year. More fireworks are set off on Chinese New Year Eve than...

STRIKE AVERTED

The International Longshore Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) came to a tentative agreement on January 8th, before the January 15th deadline. The agreement staved off a waterfront strike that would have stopped the flow of goods on the...

CLEANER AIR

Despite an uptick in economic activity, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States dropped for the second year in a row. Traditionally, the two benchmarks rise together. This divergence demonstrates the push towards natural gas and renewable diesel is...

WASTED TIME

The cost of congestion on the nation's highways represented $108.8B to the truck industry in 2022. In California alone, the cost of congestion was a whopping $8.77B. That equates to about $8,000/truck. Additionally, it is akin to removing 22% of truck capacity from...

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