According to the USDA Grain Transportation Report, beginning September 1, the Port of New York and New Jersey will begin charging ocean carriers a fee for long-dwelling containers in an effort to cull some empties from the dock.
The fee is intended to encourage carriers to pick up their empty containers more quickly, to keep commerce moving through the port and region. Per the fee policy, a $100-per-container fee will be assessed quarterly to carriers whose outgoing container volume does not equal or exceed 110 percent of their incoming volume.
The fee will take effect after a mandatory 30-day public comment period and will be reevaluated in the future. The fee will be used to offset the cost of additional storage capacity and other expenses incurred by empty containers.
In 2020, the port handled 1.1 million metric tons (mmt) of containerized grain, grain products, and soybeans. With this volume—13 percent of total containerized grain handled by all U.S. ports— the Port of New York and New Jersey ranked fourth in the Nation.