Motor carriers (click here) are quickly raising driver pay and fuel surcharges as the costs of drayage spiral.
...As of Thursday, (click here) numbers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey showed 19 containerships at anchor awaiting berthing space. A glut of empty export containers awaiting pick-up by ocean carriers contributed to the problems, prompting the port authority to announce this week a new “container imbalance fee” for ocean carriers. Under the program, which will be effective as of September 1, 2022, ocean carriers’ total outgoing container volume must be 110% or more of their incoming container volume or face a $100 per container fee over the benchmark.
“When ocean carriers continue to bring thousands of containers per month to a port and only pick up a fraction of that number, it creates an untenable situation for terminals, importers and exporters, trucking companies, and the port itself,” said Chairman Maffei. “The Commission has already been investigating reports of carriers charging per diem container charges even when the shipper or trucker cannot possibly return the container due to terminal congestion. I will ask that this investigation be broadened and intensified to cover instances where shippers and truckers are being forced to store containers or move them without proper compensation.”...
