The Port of Los Angeles launched a digital tool to allow traders to access truck capacity information and track cargo, which should help shippers and cargo owners better “predict and plan” cargo flows. The “Control Tower” data tool, launched Feb. 24, provides traders “snapshots” of truck turn times at the port’s terminals and “recent and future trending volume data,” the port said. Updates throughout the year will add more features. Port Executive Director Gene Seroka said the tool will help “get critical and reliable information to San Pedro Bay port stakeholders so that they can improve decision making and efficiencies.” The port is among many that have struggled to relieve container congestion since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a rise in detention and demurrage fees (see 2102090028).

A new fee on cargo passing through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach may start in the second half of 2021, a Port of Los Angeles spokesperson said, citing remarks from port staff at a Jan. 27 meeting. But each port’s harbor commission will need to vote to approve a start date for the Clean Truck Fund rate before the fee begins, the spokesperson said. Approved in March 2020, the fee will be assessed at $10 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) -- to be paid by the beneficial cargo owner -- for loaded containers hauled by heavy-duty trucks that enter or exit port terminals. The fee is intended to incentivize adoption of zero emissions trucks, which will be exempt from the fee. The ports are also considering exemptions for low nitrogen oxide trucks. Implementation of the fee has been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the spokesperson said.

The Federal Maritime Commission is seeking tips from industry on ocean carriers and terminal operators that are violating regulations on detention and demurrage fees, the FMC said Dec. 17. The information will be used to aid the commission’s investigation into the unfair charges (see 2011200024) that began after industry complained FMC’s May rule on detention and demurrage was being ignored (see 2009140045 and 2011170041).

Traffic mitigation fees (TMF) at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will increase by 4.2% on Aug. 1, the West Coast MTO Agreement said in a June 30 press release. Beginning that date, the TMF will be $33.47 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), or $66.94 for all other sizes of container, WCMTOA said. Some containers are exempt from TMF, including empty containers, some import or export cargo that transits the Alameda corridor, and transshipment cargo. “The adjustment matches the combined 4.2 percent increase in longshore wage and assessment rates that take effect in early July,” WCMTOA said.

A longshoreman's union on the West Coast is calling for a one-day work stoppage on June 19 in response to racism and police brutality, the Local 10 leader told Jacobin magazine. International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10 is a majority African American local, and the stoppage is also in protest of what it called plans to privatize the port of Oakland. The stoppage will be for eight hours, and will affect all 29 ports on the West Coast.

The Federal Maritime Commission will accept comments on its proposed interpretative rule on detention and demurrage charges until Oct. 31, the agency said in a notice. The agency previously said comments are due Oct. 17 (see 1909130026).

Imports at major U.S. retail container ports reached “unusually high numbers” just before the new 15 percent Section 301 tariffs on List 4A Chinese goods took effect Sept. 1, the National Retail Federation said Sept. 10. Imports “are expected to surge again” before the List 4B tariffs take effect Dec. 15, it said. “Retailers are still trying to minimize the impact of the trade war on consumers by bringing in as much merchandise as they can before each new round of tariffs takes effect and drives up prices." U.S. ports handled 1.96 million 20-foot-long cargo containers or their equivalents in July, the latest month for which actual numbers are available, NRF said. That was up 9.1 percent sequentially from June and represented a 2.9 percent increase from July 2018, it said. “Likely driven by the new tariffs” scheduled to take effect Dec. 15, NRF forecasts November imports will reach 1.97 million containers, the highest monthly total since shipments topped 2 million last October, it said.

Vessels coming from the Seychelles must take additional security measures before entering the U.S. due to "deficient anti-terrorism port measures," the Coast Guard said in a notice. The U.S. notified the country last year of the issues, but the Coast Guard subsequently found that "Seychelles failed to maintain effective anti-terrorism measures in its port facilities," it said. As a result, vessels "that visited a port in the Republic of Seychelles in its last five port calls" are required to meet additional conditions for entry, it said. Additional countries that lack effective anti-terrorism measures and are subject to the security conditions are: Cambodia, Cameroon, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Iraq, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Micronesia, Nauru, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Syria, Timor-Leste, Venezuela and Yemen.

The Federal Maritime Commission plans to start the final phase of its investigation into detention and demurrage charges, the agency said in a news release. Commissioner Rebecca Dye will continue to oversee the investigations and meetings with industry experts that are planned to be held by mid-April, the FMC said. "It is an enormous challenge to develop an industry-wide practice for demurrage and detention," Dye said. "Our goal is to make focused, significant changes that will emphasize demurrage and detention incentives and boost freight fluidity. Contributions from industry experts and commitment to continuous supply chain process improvement are necessary to achieve this goal." A final report is due Sept. 3. The agency issued a report on the second phase of the investigation in December 2018 (see 1812100037).

Louis Sola and Daniel Maffei were sworn in as Federal Maritime Commission commissioners on Jan. 23 after Senate confirmation on Jan. 2, the agency said in a news release. Maffei previously served on the FMC, while Sola comes from the Florida Board of Pilots Commissioners, the FMC said. The additions of Sola and Maffei bring the number of FMC commissioners up to four.