MEDITERRANEAN/CANADA CONFERENCE LEVIES INLAND FUEL CHARGE

MEDITERRANEAN/CANADA CONFERENCE LEVIES INLAND FUEL CHARGE    The Med Canada Conference, a group of four carriers in the Mediterranean/Canadian Atlantic trade, said that it will introduce a fuel inland surcharge on all inland trucking moves in Canada, effective March 20.
   The announcement forms part of an increasing trend by carriers and conferences to extend the application of bunker surcharges to inland transport organized under carrier haulage.
   The fuel inland charge is set at 6 percent of current trucking rates in the Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario provinces. It will be amount to 5 percent of current trucking charges in Newfoundland and Saskatchewan; 3 percent in Alberta; 8.5 percent in Manitoba; and various amounts depending on the inland destination in British Columbia.
      Inland rail moves in Canada will not incur a fuel surcharge.
   The Med Can conference said that the inland charge was necessary because of the recent escalation in the price of fuel and the needs of local truckers in Canada.
   The carriers of the Med Can conferences are Canada Maritime, Cast, DSR-Senator and Zim Israel Navigation.