· The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) issued an interpretive ruling in Spring of 2020 aimed to determine the fairness of demurrage and detention fees to ensure these were being used to encourage the timely retrieval of import containers as well as empty returns.
· To further this review the FMC announced on Tuesday they will be begin auditing the top nine container lines in the US and how fees are billed for detention and demurrage. Each carrier would be required to designate a managing director to assist with the audit process and provide a monthly summary to regulators.
· Exorbitant charges for detention and demurrage have been a longstanding problem faced by shippers. So much so multiple agencies including the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) as well as the Agricultural Transportation Coalition (AgTC) have proposed changes to legislation to ensure the legal burden of proof of billed detention and demurrage will instead fall to the carrier. This would allow the shippers the ability to no longer be obligated to attain proof to negate costs invoiced to them.
Tuesday July 20, 2021
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