Houston to start charging long-dwell fee from Feb. 1

A new fee meant to prod shippers to quickly retrieve import containers from the Port of Houston will go into effect Feb. 1 now that software issues that delayed its original implementation have been resolved, port officials said Thursday.  

Port Houston Authority said in a statement that the “sustained import dwell fee,” which the port’s board approved in October, will be assessed from Feb. 1 after software upgrades were completed. The fee was set to go into effect at the start of December but was postponed due to technical issues.  

The $45-per-container fee would be charged starting on the eighth day following the expiration of the port’s allotted free time for imports. The fee would be in addition to the port’s regular demurrage charge of $61.15 per day for imports that linger past free time at Houston’s two marine terminals.  

“The sustained import dwell Fee is intended to minimize long-term storage of containers on the terminals and promote fluidity of cargo movement,” Roger Guenther, executive director at Port Houston, said in the statement. “We’ve seen during the recent increase in demand that containers sitting on terminals for an extended period of time are a challenge. We are implementing this additional tool to help optimize space at our terminals and keep goods moving to the consumers in our region who need them.” 

Aside from the sustained import dwell fee, Houston can also impose an “excessive import dwell fee” with a 30-day notice to shippers. The fee, which starts at $50 per day, would only be implemented in situations of extreme congestion and would temporarily replace the sustained import dwell fee.  

The potential for being hit with additional fees has prodded shippers to remove more long-dwelling imports from Houston’s docks. As of mid-December, about 8.8 percent of import containers had dwell times of 14 days or longer at Houston; that compares with 15.4 percent at the start of November.  

Fuente: Journal of Commerce