TACA CARRIERS INTRODUCE EXTRA CHARGE FOR CHASSIS

TACA CARRIERS INTRODUCE EXTRA CHARGE FOR CHASSIS    In a controversial move, the shipping lines of the Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement said they will impose on Jan. 1 a chassis usage charge in the United States for transatlantic shipments.
   The extra charge will be $40 per chassis for the eastbound trade and $60 for the westbound trade.
   The conference said that the chassis usage charge will apply whenever the ocean carrier provides a chassis, and there will be no charge if the shipper provides a chassis. Previously, ocean carriers provided the chassis at no extra cost.
   The conference said that the costs of supplying a chassis to customers to deliver cargo to the port “represent a significant component of fixed costs which have been sustained for a considerable length of time by the ocean carriers.”
   Typically, the annual cost of maintaining a chassis fleet is between $30 million and $45 million per carrier, covering elements such as leasing, purchase, capital depreciation, insurance, positioning, maintenance and repair, the conference said.
   The carriers of the TACA conference are Atlantic Container Line, Hapag-Lloyd, Mediterranean Shipping Co., Maersk Sealand, NYK, OOCL and P&O Nedlloyd.
   The move by the transatlantic conference follows last month’s announcement of a chassis charge by the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, a group of major transpacific ocean carriers.
   Traditionally, ocean carriers in the United States have always borne the cost of providing chassis to shippers and truckers. In Europe and Asia, truckers provide the chassis.