NY-NJ Port Terminal Taking Away Weekend/Vacation Free Time

Shippers have extra charges – or no less than quicker racking-up charges – to fret about on the Port of New York and New Jersey. Michael Angell studies within the Journal of Commerce (JOC):

The biggest marine terminal on the Port of New York and New Jersey will lower weekends and holidays from the interval throughout which an ocean container can linger earlier than it racks up storage costs.

…

In a tariff revealed final Friday, Maher Terminals eradicated Saturdays and Sundays from the “free time” interval allowed for import containers. Together with no weekend grace interval, the brand new tariff additionally lower the grace interval for non-working holidays outlined within the Worldwide Longshoremen’s Affiliation (ILA) contract. The modifications go into impact Sept. 23. The transfer additionally impacts refrigerated containers, which can nonetheless have two days of free time.

Shippers have lengthy complained about unfair detention and demurrage charges, and this makes the issue worse.

Angell studies that the precise variety of free days earlier than transport containers begin accruing demurrage charges doesn’t change from 4. Nonetheless, for a lot of shippers, if their cargo is on the port throughout the weekend, particularly if it arrived near or throughout the weekend, Maher would possibly as properly be subtracting two days of free time.

Greater than as soon as, the article states the elimination of those free days is to spice up utilization of weekend, Saturday specifically, gate hours for shifting containers. The port terminal is clearly attempting to indicate this variation falls throughout the FMC’s new(ish) pointers, by way of the interpretive rule that got here into play in 2020, that demurrage and detention charges and implementation insurance policies should be aimed toward inducing faster retrieval and return of transport containers, not only a punishment or means for making more cash.

A number of elements work in opposition to shippers for getting their transport containers of products from port terminals over the weekend. Angell shares the Nationwide Industrial Transportation League’s (NITL) argument for regarding how these elements make Maher’s new coverage unfair:

… it stated the free time coverage change is unfair as a result of Maher doesn’t supply the identical hours on Saturday because it does on weekdays, with the Saturday gates closing at 3 pm moderately than the 7 pm closing time on weekdays.

Truck drivers usually tend to have run out of their driving closing dates, NITL stated, including that many drayage drivers are usually not eager about weekend work and cargo receivers are usually not open.

“When additional hours are supplied on a weekend or vacation, it’s tough to get drivers and employees members to work on these days,” NITL stated. “There’s a vital improve in prices related to asking folks to work on a vacation. As well as, prospects are usually not open for receiving.”

… NITL stated truckers unable to entry a cargo receiver’s warehouse on the weekend shall be pressured to retailer imports in their very own yards, that are already choked with empty containers in lots of cases.

“Charging charges as stipulated underneath [Maher’s] proposed tariff would penalize motor carriers and shippers underneath circumstances over which they don’t have any management,” NITL stated. “Assessing charges in a method that’s punitive, not incentivizing.”

The elimination of weekend free time is greater than somewhat problematic, as NITL factors out. That the Worldwide Longshoremen’s Affiliation’s (ILA) non-working holidays are to not be included as free days is downright ridiculous.

How are shippers going to get their truckers to choose up transport containers on holidays when the port terminals aren’t even working as a result of the dockworkers have the break day?

It’s laborious to argue that would fall underneath incentivizing and never incentivizing to satisfy the FMC’s equity requirements when assessing demurrage and detention charge insurance policies.

The Port of New York and New Jersey has been going through severe congestion issues for some time now, however this isn’t the best way to repair them.