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Issue 10 Do you have a friend or colleague who would like to receive this eFlash, click here. |
The PierPass night shift program kicked-off this past weekend as Container terminals in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach remained open Saturday night to serve truckers picking up or dropping off containers.
Today is the first day that the Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) of $40 per TEU goes into effect at the port. Cargo owners are responsible for paying the TMF for each container that exits the port by truck during the peak period, defined as 3 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. In order to avoid this fee, cargo must move off the port during off-peak hours, which are available Monday through Thursday and on Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
In addition, shipments that are transported from the ports by rail and returned empty containers are exempt from the TMF.
PierPass, a non-profit entity created by the terminals, will collect the fee, which is designed to cover the costs of operating extra shifts. The terminals claim additional labor and other expenses for operating full-service gates at night will cost $156 million per year.
If you have any questions about PierPass, please visit their website at www.pierpass.org, or please call us at FMI, 732-750-9000.
The Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP), has announced plans to scan every container imported through the ports of Los Angeles-Long Beach for radiation. This is part of a nationwide effort to intercept materials that could be used by terrorists to produce weapons of mass destruction.
A demonstration of the radiation detection portals was conducted last week at Maersk-Sealand's Los Angeles terminal. The portals will help the agency fulfill its goal of ensuring maximum security at ports of entry without slowing down the movement of legitimate cargo.
The portals are equipped with highly-sensitive monitors to detect the presence of nuclear and radiological materials in vehicles and containers. It takes less than 10 seconds for a truck to pull a 40-foot container past a monitor.
Customs has installed 14 radiation portals in LA-Long Beach and will have 90 in operation by the end of the year.
There are about 540 radiation portals in use nationwide at seaports, border crossings and other ports of entry; Customs intends to scan 100 percent of the containers entering the country for radioactive materials.
In LA, Customs demonstrated how inspectors respond when a portal detects radiation. The monitor detected radiation from a test device placed inside a container. Customs then brought the container to a secondary inspection site where it was opened for a physical examination.
The monitors are so sensitive that they can detect harmless levels of radiation from legitimate imports, such as ceramic tiles, but only about one percent of all imports emit radiation. CBP has addressed 10,000 such cases nationwide through secondary inspections, and all of the incidents proved to be innocuous.
Diesel prices continued a record-breaking climb, with prices hitting a fresh record of $2.408 a gallon for the week ending July 18.
Prices jumped six cents last week, the third record in as many weeks as oil prices and demand during the peak summer season move higher. Oil prices, which are off their highs hit this summer, are still trading near $60 a barrel, the Energy Information Administration said.
Diesel prices are nearly 67 cents higher than a year ago.
-- Traffic World
©2005 FMI International