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The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach once again held off on implementing a fee on ocean carriers whose import containers linger at marine terminals, even as imports remain at record levels and the ports’ traditional busy season approaches.
The fee will potentially take effect, if necessary, on Friday, June 24.
The Container Dwell Fee has been delayed essentially since its inception, with officials citing as the reason progress in reducing the number of containers at the terminals since late October.
The fee is one of several efforts aimed at speeding the processing of cargo at the San Pedro Port Complex to eliminate a backlog of ships trying to deliver merchandise.
Port of Los Angeles officials said when the policy was announced that about 40% of import containers were idling at terminals for at least nine days.
The ports, the two busiest in the nation, were initially set to impose the fee on Nov. 1, but delayed it two weeks to give ocean carriers time to voluntarily comply. When Nov. 15 arrived, the ports delayed the fee for one week — and postponing the charge has been a weekly rite ever since.
While the ports saw steady improvements in the cargo backlog in the months that followed the fee’s inception, that progress has plateaued for weeks now.
The ports, for example, reported on Friday, June 17, that they’ve seen a 38% combined decline in aging cargo on the docks since the fee was announced.
But that’s the same as last week — and 12 percentage points worse than the last week of May.
The plateau in reducing the backlog has come even as there has been no dip in the ongoing cargo surge that began in the second half of 2020.
May was Long Beach’s second-busiest month in its 111-year history — with only May 2021 topping it.
May was the third-busiest month in the LA port’s history.
And officials have said cargo could increase even more in the coming weeks, with China’s further recovery from another pandemic lockdown coinciding with retailers preparing for the back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons.
Yet, port officials have also said they are ready for their busy season.
“Looking ahead,” Long Beach port Executive Director Mario Cordero said last week, “we are ready for the traditional summertime surge to coincide with China’s recovery from a lengthy lockdown.”
Over the next week, port officials will monitor and reassess whether to implement the fee.
The ability to levy the fee expires on July 28, unless the Long Beach and Los Angeles harbor commissions extend the program for a third time. The pilot program was initially supposed to last 90 days.
The fee, if implemented, would begin at $100 per container, increasing by $100 per container each day. Containers set to be transported by truck and rail would incur the fee if they remain at the ports for nine days or more.
Fees collected from the policy would be reinvested into programs that aim to enhance efficiency, accelerate cargo velocity and address congestion impacts.
Southern California News Group staff contributed to this report.
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