Solutions to Port Congestion Mulled at USFIA Conference
A new dwelling fee on containers at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports should not be passed on to importers, said Noel Hacegaba, chief operating officer of the Port of Long Beach. Hacegaba was speaking to the U.S. Fashion Industry Association virtual conference, during a Nov. 10 panel on the supply chain.
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The fee has not been charged yet, though originally the ports had said they would begin charging Nov. 1 (see 2110280031). A couple of weeks ago, before the announcement, 40% of inbound containers sat in the port nine days or longer, Hacegaba said. That's down to about 30% in the nine days since it was announced, he said. "This is not about revenue," he said, it's about convincing the companies involved to move containers off the dock rapidly.
Robert Krieger, president of Krieger Worldwide, a customs broker and freight forwarder, said, "It does appear there is a fight going on of who will pay these huge fees." He said he believes "that importers should not be stuck with the new dwell charges."
Hacegaba said he understands the factors causing dwell times to increase. "The average number of days the chassis is out on the street is nearly 10 days," he said. "This issue is a major factor" in port congestion. Hacegaba said the Port of Long Beach is using 65 acres for temporary storage of inbound and outbound containers, and this week there were 14,000 sitting there. It shortly plans to use another 5 acres of empty land for empties.
Krieger had his own ideas for solutions to the clogged supply chain. He said carriers should not designate which chassis should be used from the port to warehouses and rail yards. He said that would "liberate chassis and lower time spent on repositioning." He said the allowable weight in a semi-trailer should be increased, and 21 should not be the minimum age for interstate truck drivers.
At the terminals, he said, there need to be staggered lunch breaks, more flex hours and more automation. He said that it should be mandated for carriers to provide accurate early return dates for containers.
Hacegaba said a lot of people are wondering if 24/7 operation at Long Beach is having an effect. He said the results have not been as evident as port officials would have liked. "We need warehouses open [all hours] as well," he said. But he said having more weekend and late night hours has given truckers more options for dropping off containers.
Even the president has had personal meetings about the supply chain troubles. Hacegaba said, "There’s a lot riding on how quickly we can clear the backlog."
Krieger said the government could do more to make sure it does not add to the woes. He said there are Customs practices that are delaying cargo movement, and the Pacific Coast Council of Customs Brokers and the national association have been having discussions with the agency. "Recently CBP has announced they will be bringing back stratified examinations of cargo. Those examinations are painfully slow," he said, and he thinks the timing is terrible to bring them back. CBP didn't comment.
Customs brokers have been slow to file their Customs entries so they don't have to keep revising the dates when the cargo lands, he said. "The lack of reliable data from the carriers has caused us to make changes in the way we do business," he said. He said they have had to add extra staff to coordinate the delivery of cargo.
Krieger said the general consensus is that in August 2022, the supply chain will get back to normal, but he's heard estimates as soon as Chinese New Year in 2022, and as late as Chinese New Year 2023. Hacegaba said port officials think it will return to normal either next summer or before the end of next year.