Port of New York and New Jersey Announces New Empty Container Fee

The Port of New York and New Jersey this month announced plans for a new quarterly container fee to encourage the “timely removal” of empty containers. The fee, which can be imposed on ocean carriers beginning Sept. 1, will target “excess empty containers being stored in the port for long periods,” the port said. “The fee will reduce the number of excess empty containers dwelling at the port and free up much-needed capacity for containers that are full of imports and ready to be picked up by cargo owners.”

The port said it will assess the fee on carriers who “do not evacuate empty containers that take up sorely needed space for arriving imports and impede overall port productivity and fluidity.” The carriers’ “total outgoing container volume” must equal or exceed 110% of their incoming container volume during the same period, the port said, or they will be assessed a $100 fee per container for “failing to hit this benchmark.”

The port said it has been handling a 12% increase in cargo compared with the same period last year, and an “astounding” 34% rise in cargo volume compared with the same period in 2019 before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We emphatically encourage ocean carriers to step up their efforts to evacuate empty containers quicker and at higher volumes to free up much needed capacity for arriving imports in order to keep commerce moving through the port and the region,” said Bethann Rooney, director of the Port Department at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.