As terminal congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach reach historical levels, The Biden Administration announced on October 25th that effective the 1st of November 2021, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will begin charging an “emergency fee” on all long dwelling cargo.

• The fee will be applied to all containers that remain at the terminal for 9 days or more and rail containers for 3 days or more.

• The cost is $100 per container on the first day past the set dwelling limit for terminal or rail and will increase by $100 increments for each day that follows (i.e., $200 for day 2, $300 for day 3 and so on).

As directed by the President’s Task Force and in concert with the directive, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will be responsible for collecting the fees, with the revenue set to be reinvested toward long term port efficiency and infrastructure programs that will help mitigate any future congestion challenges in the San Pedro Bay area. Given the 7-day notice period, much of how the cost will be charged and in turn collected is still to be determined. More will be shared in the coming days as we approach the 1 November start date.