Los Angeles: In a bid to soften effects of the port’s congestion problems, the Long Beach Board of Harbour Commissioners was looking on Monday at extending a cap on dockage fees by three more months.
Under normal circumstances costs paid to the port would increase if a ship took longer than four days to unload.
But the drastic congestion of recent times – initially caused by the trend toward much bigger vessels and the shortage of truck chassis but then exacerbated by the labour disagreement that was tentatively ended one month ago – meant boats were taking as long as seven days to be cleared of their cargo. So the port introduced the cap on these fees as a balm to supply-chain stakeholders.
Now the commissioners want to extend that cap to June 30, the estimated date by which the port should have cleared its backlog.
The harbour commission meeting was happening on Monday night.
