At the NCBFAA’s Government Affairs Conference in Washington, DC, last week, Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Daniel Maffei spoke to the audience of customs brokers and freight forwarders about the Commission’s current activities.
Chairman Maffei was candid in his remarks to an audience who represents the majority of importers and exporters filing entries and moving cargo into and out of the United States. He underscored the agency’s interest in fees and surcharges charged to the shipping public, and this is in addition to work the agency is already doing on detention and demurrage.
In the coming weeks and months, carriers – through global and national trade associations, will push back and attempt to redirect blame to other stakeholders in the supply chain. In our opinion, the FMC’s persistence in requiring the remaining handful of carriers operating a small number of alliances to open their books and detail their activities will be beneficial in the short and long term.
For its part, the NCBFAA Transportation Committee’s Logistics Subcommittee is utilizing members nationwide to provide feedback into a centralized spreadsheet to track reports and news surrounding port conditions, intermodal and inland rail ramp conditions and anything that is of vital importance to shippers needing to know more about market conditions. Sobel has access to this vital data and is using it to help clients make decisions on port calls, inland destinations and whether or not to elect to transload cargo rather than waiting for a through bill of lading rail move.
On congestion in San Pedro Bay, the announcement that the ports would expand night and weekend gate hours was greeted with enthusiasm in the hopes that providing additional opportunities to pick up and drop off containers would clear congestion on the terminals and enable loaded export boxes to be returned and shipped out.
In Long Beach, Total Terminals International on Pier T is the pilot location for their initiative, offering the following:
“As part of the pilot program, truckers will find they are never too early or too late for their appointments from 11 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. at the TTI Terminal. For truckers with appointments during this period, the terminal will allow access whenever they arrive during that time. This widens the window typically available.
Additionally, TTI is opening gates during the third shift, from 3-7 a.m., Monday to Thursday, for two-way, prearranged truck appointments to both drop off and pick up container in the same trip. Known as “dual transactions,” the practice pairs transport of a truck-hauled empty container for export with a loaded import container, for maximum efficiency. Visits are arranged in advance, with chassis equipment drawn from the region’s “pool” so everything goes smoothly.”
From the perspective of Sobel’s customers, anything that arrests the current situation and moves it back towards fluidity is welcome. The notion that shippers can wait for volumes to drop for congestion to clear is unreasonable and solutions must be found to provide greater velocity and to make policy changes to accomodate innovations which will speed containers through these pinch points wherever and however possible.
If your company would like to contribute evidence or provide testimony to the Federal Maritime Commission, contact your Sobel Network Shipping representative and we will steer you through the process.
