Ports of Long Beach, L.A. delay container dwell fee to Jan. 3

The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have once again announced a delay of the implementation of the container dwell fee, this time to Jan. 3.

The ports first announced the program in October, but have since seen a combined 41% decline in aging cargo, prompting the ports to delay the fee. The ports' executive directors will reassess implementation of the program after monitoring data through the end of the year, ports' officials said in a press release.

The policy would charge ocean carriers $100 per import container that falls into one of two categories: containers scheduled to move by truck that dwell nine days or more, or containers scheduled to move by rail that dwell six days or more. The fee would increase $100 for each additional day a container goes over the dwelling limit. Currently there is no date to start the dwelling days count.

If the program is implemented, any fees collected would be reinvested into programs to enhance efficiency, accelerate cargo velocity and address congestion. Pre-pandemic dwelling times for containers were under four days for local delivery and under two days for rail delivery.