Ocean cargo: More fees to be imposed on California shippers
Patrick Burnson, Executive Editor -- Logistics Management, 7/16/2008
SAN FRANCISCO—West Coast shippers were given some more bad news late yesterday as the California state assembly passed Senate Bill 974, authorizing new fees for containers moving through the state’s major seaports. Authored by State Senator Alan Lowenthal, the legislation is now headed for the State Senate.
Shippers expect the bill to be quickly passed in its amended version and signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in the coming weeks.
“We are very disappointed that shippers are being burdened with additional fees when other alternatives had been presented,” said Ezra Finkin, a spokesman for the Waterfront Coalition in Washington, DC. “Despite our best efforts with the governor’s staff, it appears that our suggestions were not considered.”
Once the bill is passed, containers moving through the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Oakland would be assessed a $60-per-FEU (forty equivalent units). The bill was amended before passage to define which infrastructure projects would be eligible to be funded from the fee. It also changes the authority administering the funds in the Southland.
The Waterfront Coalition and other shipper associations had hoped that the state would scrap the legislation in favor of a highway toll which would collect the fees directly from trucks transporting cargo. The lobbying group, which has also been championing a “national freight policy,” pointed out that two local other container fees pending at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles total $100 per FEU. Shippers using the Port of Oakland face a $25 per FEU boost.
With the new amendments, SB974 will fund rail and traffic projects primarily in Southern California. Once signed, the new fees will go into effect in 2009.
View All On-Demand Webcasts
