A
PROPOSAL by the Port of Long Beach to reduce the free time for containerised
cargo to be stored at its container terminals without charge from four days to
six shifts has been met by strong opposition from retailers, who claim it could
have the reverse effect of worsening congestion and delay the loading or
discharge of containers from ships.
"We
do not believe that reducing free time from four days - essentially eight
shifts - to just six shifts, or three days, on its own will address the
on-going congestion and throughput issues," said the National Retail Federation's
(NRF) vice president Jonathan Gold, in a letter to port officials.
"Reducing
free time as proposed will only lead to additional congestion and operational
issues, and most importantly, potentially additional costs to NRF members by
way of demurrage," he wrote, reported American Shipper.
"NRF
members want to get their containers as soon as they are available. It is in
their best interest to get the containers and not let them sit in the yard for
long periods of time," wrote Gold.
"However,
more times than not, they are not able to get their containers because of
issues beyond their control.
"Many
of these issues are continuously highlighted - lack of visibility into
container readiness, excessive wait times for truckers, chassis availability,
closed areas, appointment availability, customs holds, PierPass, etc."
The
NRF added that any proposal to change free time should be adopted by both Long
Beach and the neighbouring port of Los Angeles.
"Shippers
should not be put into a position where the sister ports have different rules
in place dealing with free time. This will only further exacerbate the
congestion issues that currently plague the ports," the group said.
Source
: HKSG.
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