SIMIC

THE US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has issued a directive to ocean carriers, instructing them to cease the practice of mandating specific chassis for cargo owners and their truckers engaged in merchant haulage operations, reports New York's Journal of Commerce.

This decision has the potential to significantly alter the landscape of container transportation within the US.



This ruling, which was eagerly awaited, has been delivered, affirming a prior decision made by a hearing examiner in 2023 supporting the American Trucking Associations (ATA).



The Ocean Carriers Equipment Management Association (OCEMA) appealed this decision to the full FMC.



The crux of the matter lies in the differing agreements between cargo owners and ocean carriers. In "carrier haulage agreements," the ocean carrier assumes responsibility for the entirety of the transportation process from door to door.



Conversely, in "merchant haulage agreements," the ocean carrier's responsibility ends at the port, and the cargo owner arranges for inland transportation.



The hearing examiner determined that ocean carriers were in violation of the US Shipping Act of 1984 by imposing specific intermodal equipment providers (IEPs) on truckers under merchant haulage agreements.



Additionally, the examiner noted a significant increase in chassis rental rates for merchant haulage, rising 35 per cent between 2018 and 2020 and 90 per cent between 2013 and 2020 in one particular US region, whereas rates for cargo owners under carrier haulage agreements remained largely unchanged.