July 1 requirement at ports comes with surprise consequences

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Land Line  /  July 1, 2016

Along with fireworks and Independence Day weekend barbecue parties, Friday brought with it a new container weight requirement that may prove costly in terms of time and headaches for truck drivers visiting U.S. ports.

Beginning on July 1, trucks and shippers are responsible for providing the verified gross mass of shipping containers specifically as they bring the containers to U.S. ports. The new rule was promulgated by the International Maritime Organization, which says the rule is designed to help ports and shippers know accurate gross mass of a container so proper stowage and stacking is performed on ships and at ports.

Veteran driver and OOIDA Senior Member Danny Schnautz, vice president at Texas-based Clark Freight Lines, said drivers for his company hadn’t yet dealt with hiccups at ports because of the new rules.

“So far, this is mostly a shipper, ship line, freight forwarder and port issue,” Schnautz said. “It’s had minimal impact on our drivers, although we don’t expect it to stay that way. If the weight information on a container is inaccurate or incorrect, quite often there is an impact on the driver.”

Containers are frequently modified to repair holes or strengthen doors – prompting welding and modification of the container’s original weight. The difference can add up to several hundred pounds. Because ships frequently carry 5,000 or more containers, such a difference could significantly alter a freight ship’s balance and safety.

When decisions were made among national and international shipping organizations to require container weight verification, however, truckers seem to have shouldered much of the responsibility and liability associated with the new system, Schnautz said.

“That’s how business works, and that’s how the passing the buck game works,” Schnautz said Friday. “I don’t mind reporting a number, but I won’t be responsible for it.”

“They’re trying to make us accountable for the actual weight on the container, but we’re using the weight stamped onto the door,” he said. “They’re allowing that it won’t have to be accurate to the pound, but it is going to be reasonably accurate.”

The Port of Houston, where Schnautz’s company frequently makes calls, has told truckers they don’t have to have the gross vehicle mass on file before arriving at the port – flexibility that helps drivers avoid time-consuming clerical work as they’re trying to move freight.

“They’re going to receive the load regardless and that’s a game changer for us because that isn’t always the way they’ve talked about this rule,” Schnautz said.

Drivers have already dealt with a side effect of the rule they didn’t expect.

Schnautz said Clark Freight Lines has already had drivers being told at warehouses that they need a verified gross mass for their containers as they bring an empty container to a warehouse – a hurdle the rule wasn’t apparently intended to make.

Some shipping lines have asked drivers to take pictures of the weights posted on the back of container doors.

“We’re kind of resisting that because that just turns into a slippery slope,” Schnautz said.

Schnautz said he hopes to use his voice when major decisions are made that affect truck drivers and the supply chain.

“Because truckers have the least market power, these decisions are often made without us in the room and anything that slows a truck down slows down the whole supply chain,” he said. “Some of us are trying to make this point to shippers and to ports.”