3/7/2021

Dear all Valued Customers

 

Please find our new updates as follows in detail but for ease of interest I have now briefed what is covered so you can focus on what is important to you!

 

• Topics
• UP Capping Storage Fees for Inaccessible Containers in Chicago
• NS raises daily domestic container charges
• US Customs compliance updates  
• COVID – Yantian Port starting to recover

 

UP Capping Storage Fees for Inaccessible Containers in Chicago; NS Raises Daily Domestic Container Charges

 

Union Pacific Railroad (UP) will cap the storage fees charged for ocean containers stacked and inaccessible in its Global IV terminal in Joliet, Illinois, after shippers and non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOs) protested bills that exceeded $10,000 in at least one case.

 

The western US railroad announced that beginning July 1 it will cap storage charges at $2,450 per container in the stack until a chassis becomes available. The cap will apply to containers already in the stack and new containers entering the stack.

 

As previously reported, drayman and truckers say it is the worst congestion in history, as an estimate of 1,500 to 2,500 containers are stacked and inaccessible - while still subject to rail storage fees.

 

“Union Pacific acknowledges the difficulty for both dray carriers and the railroad to efficiently manage the outbound movement of containers once they are in a stacked location,” the railroad wrote in its announcement Thursday.

 

NS Raises Daily Domestic Container Charges in Bid to Speed Turns

 

Meanwhile, Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) is raising daily rental fees for 53-foot EMP and TMX domestic intermodal containers effective July 14 to encourage customers to return the boxes quickly amid strained capacity.

 

The new rental scheme will also raise daily fees more quickly, as NS wants customers to return containers sooner in order to maintain capacity levels and network fluidity.

 

Transportation providers of all types, from Class I railroads to ocean shipping lines to less-than-truckload carriers, are facing daily challenges getting access to equipment, whether tractors, trailers, chassis, ocean containers, or domestic containers. Rising freight demand and pandemic-related disruption have created massive dislocation of freight-hauling equipment that cuts across modes and supply chains.

 

PNW Sees Supply Chain Delays Due to Record Heat Wave

 

The heatwave that has hit the Pacific Northwest and western Canada has brought disruption to cargo. Several container terminals at the NW Seaport Alliance were closed Monday due to record-breaking heat in the Pacific Northwest. Operations have since resumed. This normally temperate region has been struggling as temperatures soar above the 104-degree Fahrenheit mark.

 

Road:

 

Road surfaces have warped, and buckled in some places. A section of route 544 in Washington State had to be closed after the surface was declared unsafe and the Seattle Department of Transportation has been dousing the city’s three steel drawbridges to prevent the metal from over-expanding.

 

In some places, the heat has melted power cables, which resulted in a shutdown of the streetcar service in Portland.

 

Air:

 

Operations at Sea-Tac International Airport have not been disrupted so far, a spokesman reported.

 

However, Alaska Air advised that the heat was impacting its activities in a number of locations, including cities in other regions, notably in Tucson, Phoenix and Texas. The airline has cancelled “a small fraction” of its flights.

 

Some belly cargo may be impacted.

 

The severe heat has not impacted the operations of Cargo jet in western Canada, but the carrier has experienced some payload restrictions on its daytime flight out of Vancouver. Extreme heat reduces lift for aircraft, causing flight cancellations and forcing carriers to reduce weight, impacting the payload capacity, in extreme cases.

 

BRi USA is monitoring this situation and will provide updates to clients who may see some minor cargo delays.

 

Compliance Updates

 

•          Implementation of Revised Lacey Act Provisions - Implementation of Phase VI of the Lacey Act enforcement schedule has been delayed to October 1, 2021. The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 amended the Lacey Act to provide, among other things, that importers submit a declaration at the time of importation for certain plants and plant products. Enforcement of the declaration requirement began on April 1, 2009, and products requiring a declaration are being phased-in. To determine if your product is subject to the Lacey Act Declaration, and to find a list of HTS codes listed on APHIS’ Implementation Schedule, go here.

•          FDA Revoking the Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) for Some Disposable Respirators - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is revoking the Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) for non-National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-approved disposable respirators (revocation effective July 6, 2021) and the EUAs for decontamination and bioburden reduction systems (revocation effective June 30, 2021). As of the effective date of the revocations, these devices will no longer be authorized for use by health care personnel in health care settings. Transition from wearing disposable respirators for respiratory protection for an extended time to conventional capacity strategies that include wearing a disposable respirator for each patient contact, according to the CDC's strategies, as appropriate.

•          Forced Labour Withhold Release Order - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a Withhold Release Order against Hoshine Silicon Industry Co. Ltd., a company located in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The Withhold Release Order instructs personnel at all U.S. ports of entry to immediately begin to detain shipments containing silica-based products made by Hoshine and its subsidiaries. The import ban covers products made overseas that use Hoshine materials, including any solar panels produced abroad with polysilicon from Hoshine.

 

Yantian Operations Update

 

After a significant stop on export containers in May and into June , the Port of Yantian is beginning to recover. The yard density is down to 65%, making overall productivity increase to 85% of normal levels.

 

According to Maersk, 19 of their vessels were impacted by the congestion in Yantian, and they are resuming operations carefully in order to avoid bottlenecks at neighbouring ports!

 

Keeping you update 

BRi Customer Solutions Team 

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