The Federal Maritime Commission will discuss a "fact finding" on conditions related to port detention, demurrage and free time practices during a Sept. 4 meeting, the FMC said in a notice. The meeting will be closed to the public. The FMC began an investigation into those issues in April (see 1804030030).

Terminal operators at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have agreed to a set of operational procedures that terminals will follow as part of the revised PierPass “OffPeak” program that, pending approval, will begin in August (see 1804160037), they said in a press release. The new business rules include an appointment window of two hours for appointments, as well as last appointment times of 3:30 p.m. on the first shift and 1:30 a.m. on the second. “PierPass also clarified that the new system, which some have referred to as ‘PierPass 2.0,’ won’t require appointments for individual import containers being picked up from peel-off piles,” the press release said. “Trucking companies and cargo owners will continue to arrange for a single time window to pick up entire blocks of containers going to the same company or destination from a single container terminal.”

The PierPass “OffPeak” program at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach is set to switch from its current congestion pricing model to a flat-fee appointment-based system for both daytime and nighttime moves, PierPass said in an April 16 press release. “Port users have expressed a desire for changes to increase flexibility and reduce the bunching up of trucks that often occurs before the start of the nighttime OffPeak shifts,” the press release said. “Under the current program, OffPeak charges a Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) on weekday daytime cargo moves to incentivize cargo owners to use OffPeak shifts on nights and Saturdays. The revised OffPeak program will replace this two-tier fee structure with a single flat TMF during both shifts, and use appointments to spread traffic across the two shifts,” it said. “Subject to regulatory approval, the revised OffPeak program is expected to begin in August,” PierPass said. PierPass also posted a questions and answers document on the upcoming changes.

The Federal Maritime Commission began its investigation into various port fees (see 1803060028) with an information demand to ocean carriers, the FMC said in an April 2 news release. "Commissioner Rebecca Dye has launched the first phase of her investigation into port demurrage, detention, and free time practices by ordering ocean common carriers to provide information and documents explaining those practices," the agency said. "A similar effort with respect to container terminals at major U.S. ports is also underway." Dye is seeking specific details on fees while the shippers are unable to retrieve cargo, the FMC said. "The ultimate resolution of this investigation will have the potential to affect every ocean common carrier calling the United States," Dye said. "It is vital that the information we gather is representative of business and operational practices, as well as market conditions, nationally."

The Federal Maritime Commission will investigate the "current conditions and practices of vessel operating common carriers and marine terminal operators, and U.S. demurrage, detention, and per diem charges," the agency said in a notice. An industry petition in 2016 asked the FMC to prohibit such fees during unexpected events (see 1612080021). FMC Commissioner Rebecca Dye will oversee the investigation as the designated investigative officer, the FMC said in a news release. A final report with findings and recommendations is due Dec. 2. Among other things, Dye will seek to answer "whether the alignment of commercial, contractual, and cargo interests enhances or aggravates the ability of cargo to move efficiently through U.S. ports."

More than 100 industry associations called on labor and port leadership at East Coast ports to return to the negotiating table “as soon as possible,” calling a recent “breakdown in negotiations” on a labor contract extension deeply concerning, in a letter dated March 2. A labor contract extension between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance “will provide supply chain stakeholders with the certainty they need for their operations,” while failure to reach a deal could see newly won business at East and Gulf Coast ports return to the West Coast, “where a long-term contract is in place,” said the letter, signed by the American Association of Exporters and Importers, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, the U.S. Fashion Industry Association and the National Retail Federation, among others. “Some industries will begin implementing contingency planning as early as this spring to ensure that cargo is not disrupted during peak shipping season in the fall,” it said. “In the absence of negotiations, those contingency plans will definitely affect business at East and Gulf Coast container terminals.”

The State Department has received an application to create a new port of entry east of Otay Mesa on the border between California and Mexico, it said in a notice. “A new port of entry in San Diego County could alleviate strain on the existing ports of entry and the local and regional transportation infrastructure,” the notice said. According to an application submitted by the California Department of Transportation, the Otay Mesa East port of entry would be located at the end of a 2.5-mile extension of current California State Road 11. Comments are due March 9.

The Federal Maritime Commission recently issued a list of regulations "under its purview that are currently suitable for reform or elimination," and set "a schedule in which to consider further action on each of the items," it said in a news release. The list "outlines the steps to systematically review key regulations under the Commission’s authority for provisions that may be burdensome and no longer necessary to meet the agency’s obligations under the Shipping Act," it said. The "items identified as potential reform initiatives will require detailed review by staff working groups with the goal of initiating individual rulemakings. As part of the rulemaking process, public comments will be solicited before further review and analysis is conducted by staff, and a recommendation for consideration by the full Commission is made."

The Federal Maritime Commission will raise the penalty fees for statutory violations as of Jan. 15, the agency said in a news release. "Fees for Knowing and Willful violations of the Shipping Act will increase to $58,562.00, from $57,391.00; and, fees for Not Knowing and Willful violations of the Shipping Act will increase to $11,712.00 from $11,478.00," the agency said. A full list of the inflationary adjustments was published in the Federal Register.

The Federal Maritime Commission posted a witness list and schedule for the public Jan. 16 and 17, 2018, hearings on new rules for demurrage, detention and per diem fees during events beyond the control of shippers (see 1711210019). Twenty-six witnesses are scheduled to testify grouped in six panels over the two days, the agency said. The Coalition for Fair Port Practices, a group of 25 trade associations, filed a petition with the FMC in 2016 asking the agency to limit port fees related to port congestion or disruption, bad weather and delays spurred by government action or other issues out of shippers' control (see 1612080021).