Emergency Container Dwelling Surcharge – Los Angeles

According to a statement by the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach this week, the surcharge will be implemented from 1st November 2021.

This new policy states that this ‘emergency surcharge’ will be charged to ocean carriers for each container that falls into one of the following 2 categories:

1. Containers moved by truck – charges will be incurred if dwelled for 9 days or more at the port/terminal.
2. Containers moved by rail – charges will be incurred if dwelled for more than 6 days at port/terminal.

Each container will be charged in increments of $100 a day until moved out of the terminal ($100 for day 1, $200 for day 2, $300 for day 3 etc).

It is currently uncertain as to how this will be charged and collected, although we have inevitably already begun receiving notifications from ocean carriers that they intend to pass on these surcharges down the supply chain ecosystem.

As per a statement by the Port of Los Angeles’ Executive Director Gene Seroka, approximately 40% of the containers that arrive into Los Angeles and Long Beach terminals currently fall into one of these 2 categories. The increasing number of vessels arriving into these ports and a backlog of shipping orders have resulted in over 100 vessels currently waiting to unload containers.

The US government’s Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force hopes this step will reduce lingering containers, expedite movement of goods and reduce congestion at the terminals.

The industry has voiced concerns around the impact of surcharges being passed downstream, and thus further exacerbating the significantly pressurised US supply chain situation including truck, chassis and warehouse capacity.

We will continue to do our best to mitigate these further additional surcharges and will keep you informed as the situation progresses.

Please get in touch with your local Woodland representative to discuss further.