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Dive Brief:
The average charge per container for detention and demurrage fees is $200 or more for 80% of respondents in a survey by the Harbor Trucking Association and TradeLanes, released Monday, conducted on HTA members. That does not include other related charges, such as chassis fees.
"Carriers are also levying charges on the actual commodity shippers," particularly due to issues around earliest return date, TradeLanes Revenue Leader Reese Giangola said via email. Shippers may also incur costs from detention and demurrage fees, if a trucking firm passes them on. Whether that occurs usually depends on the relationship between the customer and the trucking company, as well as the terms of the contract between the two parties, HTA CEO Weston LaBar said.
HTA members disputed more than 3 million detention and demurrage charges in 2020, according to the organization. The majority of survey participants (65%) said the most common reason for disputes was "no available appointments." The next, most-cited reason was gate congestion.