Houston fee to apply fee to containers moving within terminals

Houston fee to apply fee to containers moving within terminals Port of Houston commissioners voted Monday to impose a $40 terminal and security fee, effective Oct. 1, for containerized cargo 'that passes through a PHA terminal without being loaded or unloaded from a vessel.'
   A port spokesperson said the fee would go towards covering the security costs of moving a container within the port's terminals.
   The fee does not impact vessels loaded or unloaded, or those containers that remain aboard a vessel calling at the Port of Houston.
   Commissioners also gave permission for stevedoring companies to assess a fuel surcharge as a percentage of their freight handling charges to offset high diesel fuel prices for container lifting equipment and yard trucks. Surcharges range from as low as 1.75. percent when diesel prices range from $2 to $2.24 per gallon, to as high as 2.75 percent when prices are $3 per gallon or more. The surcharges will also go into effect on Oct. 1.
   The Port Commission also authorized funding of the port’s $9.9 million share of a 2007 maintenance project to dredge the Houston ship channel. The port is responsible for 25 percent of the cost of dredging. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is scheduled to begin the one-year dredging project in October.