Port Houston to impose import container dwell fee

The measure that seeks to address the long stay of containers and reduce congestion at the Bayport and Barbours Cut Container Terminals.

Over the last year shipping lines have shifted more services into US East Coast ports to escape chronic congestion at West Coast ports in the latter half of 2021 and into 2022, in particular the Los Angeles and Long Beach gateways. The result though has been growing congestion at US East Coast ports as volumes surged, while West Coast ports are now operating normally.

The $45 fee will be charged per unit per day starting on the eighth day after the expiration of free time, as defined in the port’s Tariff No. 15 Subrule 095 and Tariff No. 14 Subrule 093. The fee is in addition to and does not take the place of the demurrage charges for loaded import containers.

Containers will be held until all terminal fees are accounted for and the cargo owner is responsible for paying the fees.

“We’ve seen during the recent increase in demand that containers sitting on terminals for an extended period are a challenge. We are implementing this additional tool to help optimise space at our terminals and keep goods moving to the consumers in our region who need them,” said Executive Director at Port Houston, Roger Guenther

The Port Commission permitted the new dwell fee structure this past October to limit the time containers spend stationed at terminals. An Excessive Import Dwell Fee was also approved in October, which Guenther has the discretion to enact when necessary. If adopted, it would go into effect after 30 days of public notice and last for at least 60 days.

In the first 10 months of 2022 container volumes at Port Houston grew 18% year-on-year to 3.33m teu.

A similar container dwell fee at the ports of LA and Long Beach was approved in October 2021, but never implemented, the option to implement is being phased out on 24 January this year.

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