Trucking news & briefs for Friday, Dec. 10, 2021:
The U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 8 passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act that would, among other things, seek to end abusive detention and demurrage practices at U.S. ports.
Introduced by Reps. John Garamendi (D-California) and Dusty Johnson (R-South Dakota), the bill is the first major update for laws governing U.S. maritime port operations in more than 20 years.
The legislation mandates a new rulemaking by the Federal Maritime Commission to prohibit “unjust and unreasonable detention and demurrage rules practices,” including a look into the appropriate billing parties for those charges.
[Related: Intermodal haulers fight off a 'system collapse' at ports]
If it becomes law, the FMC rulemaking would be required to establish definitions for demurrage, detention, cargo availability for retrieval and associated free time, and more. It’s also required to establish that demurrage and detention rules are not independent revenue sources but incentivize efficiencies in the ocean transportation network, including the retrieval of cargo and return of equipment.
The bill is now in the Senate with the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. It must be passed by the committee before it moves on to the full Senate.
