Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/510235
14 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | MAY 2015 JOURNAL NEWS U .S. retail ports are experiencing an upswing in import volume, while West Coast dockworkers continue work to diminish a freight backlog and ratify a new labor agreement. Last month, morning commuters encountered longer than usual truck lines on the New Jersey Turnpike Extension. Construction on the Bayonne Bridge may be partly to blame, but state officials indicated the problem stemmed from truckers waiting to get in the Global Marine Terminal at Bayonne/Jersey City. On April 10, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey asked for a delay in truck dispatches because of heavy truck vol- ume in the terminal's vicinity. Trucks have been arriving increas- ingly earlier before the gates open, the authority said. The National Retail Federation said it expected an 8 percent hike last month in import cargo at the nation's major retail con- tainer ports compared to April 2014. On the West Coast, 78 percent of International Longshore and Warehouse Union delegates on April 3 approved a five-year contract plan with the Pacific Maritime Association. The union will mail the pro- posed agreement to members before a secret ballot membership ratification vote, followed by a final tally scheduled for May 22. The West Coast cargo backlog began last fall and peaked Feb. 20 when the Pacific Maritime Association and ILWU reached tenta- tive agreement, said Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president. "Progress is being made, but there's still a lot of cargo waiting to be loaded onto trucks and trains and moved across the coun- try even after it's unloaded from the ships," Gold said. "The situ- ation is getting better, but we're still far from normal." February container volume was down nearly 4 percent from February 2014, but March traffic grew 3.5 percent from the prior year, and a 5.6 percent hike was predicted for April and May over the previous time last year, according to NRF. Nine ships awaited anchor at Southern California ports April 9, down from a high of 32 vessels Feb. 18. The Port of Oakland reported that the vessel backlog that began in January had "dis- appeared" by April 2, with no ships awaiting berth in the San Francisco Bay. Federal Maritime Commissioner Michael Khouri last month requested fresh information on the steps the four major alli- ances of vessel operators were taking to reduce congestion at U.S. ports. The commission on April 15 also approved the Pacific Ports Agreement to allow efforts to reduce West Coast port conges- tion to continue. Effective April 17, the agreement permitted the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association, West Coast Marine Terminal Operator Agreement and almost every vessel-operating carrier and marine terminal operator in West Coast ports to discuss and reach agreement on ways to reduce congestion. FMC Chairman Mario Cordero also is encouraging truck- ing companies and shippers nationwide to submit "substantive documentation" to the commission on unreasonable practices for detention (use of container) and demurrage (use of space). Stakeholders also may file complaints for adjudication involving alleged violations of the Shipping Act with FMC. "The commission has heard from many importers, exporters and drayage trucking companies complaining about demurrage and detention charges that they must pay even though they can- not timely access their cargo or drop it off before free time expires," Cordero said. The commission's staff report on these fees was based on four port congestion forums held last fall and review of tariffs for six vessel-operating common carriers at 32 U.S. terminals. "One shipper has told commission staff that it has paid over $100,000 in demurrage charges in the past year, as compared with paying approximately $10,000 for the previous year," it states. "This disparity highlights shippers' perceptions that demurrage charges are not serving to speed the movement of cargo, the purpose for which those charges had originally been intended. Shippers feel they are in a 'Catch-22' when they are not permitted to pick up their container because of congestion, and yet are charged demurrage." Seventy to 100 trucking companies are pursing arbitration over late fees. Intermodal Association of North America arbitra- tors had 45 days to render a decision after receiving the case last month and were expected to begin issuing decisions this month, said Curtis Whalen, executive director of the American Trucking Associations' Intermodal Motor Carrier Conference. – Jill Dunn Truck volume clogging East Coast ports, congestion eases on West Coast The Port of Los Angeles faced a major cargo backlog ear- lier this year following months of negotiations between port workers and port management companies.