Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach Announces: Extension of Container Demurrage Fee.
In an effort to encourage importers and consignees to pick up containers from marine terminals as soon as possible to give terminal operators more flexibility in receiving empty containers, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are implementing plans to impose a container demurrage fee.
The ports have agreed to postpone the collection of the fees by one week due to progress made in clearing containers that are over nine days old at marine terminals. The new charges, which were scheduled to take effect on Nov. 15, have been postponed to Nov. 22.
The port said railroads and truckers have made greater progress in unloading imported containers from terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, prompting managers to delay the start date for the demurrage charge on overdue containers.
Since the program was announced on Oct. 25, the number of long-term stranded containers has decreased by 26%.