Ocean Carriers Plan to Impose Fuel Surcharge on Containers

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An association of 13 ocean carriers operating between the West Coast and Asia has said it would begin charging shippers a $40 per container fuel surcharge on Aug. 15.

The move by the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, one of several ocean shipping conferences in the world, is designed to help the lines offset “at least a portion of the fuel surcharges” levied on them by the truckers who haul the freight the lines discharge at U.S. ports to their final destinations, said TSA spokesman Niels Erich.

U.S. antitrust exemptions allow ocean carriers to collectively set rates and fuel surcharges, according to Curtis Whalen, executive director of American Trucking Associations’ Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference.

For the full story, see the August 1 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.

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