THE San Pedro Bay ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will postpone consideration of the "Container Dwell Fee" until September 23, reports Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide.
Since the programme was announced on October 25, the two ports have seen a combined decline of 46 per cent in long-staying cargo dockside.
Both ports will reassess fee implementation after monitoring data over the next month. Fee implementation has been postponed by both ports since the start of the programme.
The Long Beach and Los Angeles Boards of Harbour Commissioners have both extended the fee programme through October 26.
Under the temporary policy, ocean carriers can be charged for each import container dwelling nine days or more at the terminal. Currently, no date has been set to start the count with respect to container dwell time.
The ports plan to charge ocean carriers US$100 per container, increasing in $100 increments per container per day until the container leaves the terminal.
Any fees collected from dwelling cargo will be reinvested for programmes designed to enhance efficiency, accelerate cargo velocity and address congestion impacts.