Transportation Roundup: FMC ruling and trucking woes

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) released a final rule last week amending the Rules of Practice and Procedure governing the compromise, assessment, mitigation, settlement and collection of civil penalties. The changes will require ocean carriers to refund importers and exporters for overcharges and possibly for other violations. The rule will go into effect April 19. Read the entire rule in the federal register here. FMC Commissioner Max Vekich was at SSGA’s Transportation Go! in March to discuss OSRA and other FMC priorities. Read more from his presentation and the event here.

Peter Friedmann, Agriculture Transportation Coalition, Max Vekich, Federal Maritime Commission and Eric Wenberg, SSGA

At Transportation Go!, Alex Leslie from the American Transportation Research Institute discussed some of the challenges in the trucking industry, including lack of truck parking and lack of drivers. At a hearing last week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told U.S. senators that just 22 carriers and four apprentices are approved for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s pilot program for 18–20-year-old drivers to operate commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce. Buttigieg reported ways the department is trying to garner interest in this program, including a video campaign and social media to reach 2023 graduates. The three-year pilot program, which started last summer, could accommodate up to 1,000 carriers and 3,000 apprentices.

Imports at Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles were their lowest since March 2020. Total imports were down to 487,846 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) last month, dropping 43% from February 2022, and down 33% from January. The decrease wasn’t a surprise, as the ports continue to deal with high U.S. inventory, longshore labor negotiations and factories closed longer than expected for the Lunar New Year holiday. Read more from Freightwaves here.

The ongoing labor negotiations at the West Coast ports are stalled and unionized dockworkers are being blamed for slower cargo handling. The Pacific Maritime Association says workers are stopping work each day for mealtimes, rather than staggering lunch breaks and keeping operations going. The Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) was among the 238 U.S. shippers and transportation groups that signed a letter encouraging Biden administration intervention in labor talks so that a new agreement can finally be reached.

Other articles of note:

St. Lawrence Seaway begins navigation season

Not all recent import share loss on West Coast is permanent: analyst

More women become truckers as the industry tries to overcome a shortage of drivers