The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently issued a decision upholding the FMC’s determination that detention fees levied on a trucker by an ocean common carrier during a three-day port closure were unreasonable. The federal appeals court unanimously denied all aspects of the petition filed by the carrier, Evergreen Shipping Agency (America) Corp., that challenged the FMC’s order. The court affirmed that detention and demurrage fees must promote freight fluidity.

The case filed at FMC Docket No. 1966(I) concerned detention fees issued to a trucker for its late return of a shipping container and chassis for three days when a port was closed over a holiday weekend and the trucker had no practical ability to return the equipment to the port before the closure. In its Order, the Commission applied its Interpretive Rule on Detention and Demurrage to conclude that Evergreen’s detention fees violated the Shipping Act’s requirement that ocean carriers employ “just and reasonable” practices in handling property. 46 U.S.C. § 41102(c).

The D.C. Circuit endorsed the Commission’s application of the Interpretive Rule. The Interpretive Rule focuses on the extent to which demurrage and detention fees are serving as financial incentives to promote freight fluidity. 46 C.F.R. § 545.5(c). The Commission found the detention fees did not effectively incentivize freight fluidity. This was because the evidence showed the trucker could not retrieve the equipment from the cargo owner before the port’s closure. As such, the fees during the closure were not incentivizing an earlier return. The court affirmed that the FMC can rely on its expertise and experience when evaluating detention and demurrage fees.

The Commission’s Order also determined that none of Evergreen’s explanations justified the fees in this case. The Commission further ruled that the fees were not reasonable as compensation to Evergreen without evidence about its costs. The D.C. Circuit affirmed that the burden is on carriers to provide evidence to show their fees serve a compensatory purpose.

For more information about this decision, see the D.C. Circuit’s opinion in this case, which can be found at Evergreen Shipping Agency (America) Corp. v. FMC, and reported at 174 F.4th 169 (D.C. Cir. 2026).

For more information about FMC’s demurrage and detention complaint options, visit the FMC’s Complaints and Assistance homepage.

Members of the West Coast Marine Terminal Operators Agreement (WCMTOA) announced a 4.77 percent fee increase to PierPass effective August 1, 2026. The fees increased from USD 38.78 per TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) and USD 77.56 per FEU (forty-foot equivalent unit) to USD 40.63 per TEU and USD 81.26 for all other container sizes, respectively.

This fee, called the PierPass Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF), applies for both day and night cargo, across all hours of operation. The TMF applies to non-exempt containers. Exempt containers include empty containers. Import and export cargo transiting the Alameda Corridor in a container subject to the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority’s fees and transshipment cargo are also exempt. Empty chassis and bobtail trucks are also exempt from the TMF. PierPass does not set a fee for less-than-container load (LCL) shipments. NVOCCs who impose a PierPass fee for LCL shipments or a PierPass handling fee must document these fees. NVOCCs must file these fees in their FMC tariff rules or clearly note them in their tariff rates. The fees may also be listed directly in NRAs or NSAs.

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) first authorized the WCMTOA under FMC Agreement No. 201143 in June 2003. In 2005 the WCMTOA was amended to allow its members to create PierPass, Inc. and to implement the “OffPeak” program. The OffPeak program’s goal is to reduce severe cargo-related congestion on streets and highways around the ports. The OffPeak program established regular weekday night, and Saturday work shifts to handle trucks delivering and picking up containers.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) announced that it will maintain maximum penalty amounts assessed for statutory violations effective June 2, 2026. The penalty amounts, which the FMC typically adjusts upward to account for inflation, remain unchanged from 2025 levels. Key data required for the adjustment under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 2015 was not collected due to the 2025 government shutdown. In line with guidance from the Office of Management and Budget, the Commission will continue using the 2025 civil monetary penalty levels.

Maximum penalties for knowing and willful violations of the Shipping Act remain at $74,943. Maximum penalties for violations that are not knowing and willful remain at $14,988.

The FMC will maintain the largest maximum penalty at $2,626,135 per voyage. This penalty is authorized by the Shipping Act under 46 U.S.C. § 42106 as follows.

“If the Federal Maritime Commission finds that conditions unfavorable to shipping in foreign trade as described in section 42101 of this title exist, the Commission may —

1. limit voyages to and from United States ports or the amount or type of cargo carried;
2. suspend, in whole or in part, tariffs and service contracts for carriage to or from United States ports, including a common carrier’s right to use tariffs of conferences and service contracts of agreements in United States trades of which it is a member for any period the Commission specifies;
3. suspend, in whole or in part, an ocean common carrier’s right to operate under any agreement filed with the Commission, including any agreement authorizing preferential treatment at terminals, preferential terminal leases, space chartering, or pooling of cargo or revenue with other ocean common carriers;
4. impose a fee not to exceed $1,000,000 per voyage; or
5. take any other action the Commission finds necessary and appropriate to adjust or meet any condition unfavorable to shipping in the foreign trade of the United States.”

The penalty fee of $1,000,000 shown in (4) is the amount provided in the original Shipping Act of 1984. This amount currently stands at $2,626,135.

The FMC also maintained the amounts of eight other penalties specified in the Shipping Act. For a complete list of penalties, visit the Federal Register.

Several leading carriers serving the Transpacific container trades have recently updated their respective tariffs to include new General Rate Increases (GRIs) effective August 15, 2026, including CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, HMM Company Limited, Yang Ming, and ZIM. See table below for GRI amounts per 40ft container; GRI amounts for all other container sizes are as per formula. The August 15th GRIs will be the sixteenth GRI of 2026 for the East Asia/USA trade lane. 

NOTE 1:  COSCO GRIs apply on all cargo moving under service contracts only.   

NOTE 2:  Evergreen GRIs will be USD 3000 per 40ft container for dry cargo, and USD 3000 per reefer container. GRI amounts for all other container sizes are as per formula. 

Some carriers also updated their tariffs to include new General Rate Increases (GRIs) effective September 1, 2026, including CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, HMM Company Limited, Hapag Lloyd, Yang Ming, and ZIM. See table below for GRI amounts per 40ft container; GRI amounts for all other container sizes are as per formula. The September 1st GRIs will be the seventeenth GRI of 2026 for the East Asia/USA trade lane. 

NOTE 1:  COSCO GRIs apply on all cargo moving under service contracts only.   

NOTE 2:  Evergreen GRIs will be USD 3000 per 40ft container for dry cargo, and USD 3000 per reefer container. GRI amounts for all other container sizes are as per formula. 

Each carrier maintains its own tariffs and controls its own pricing.

The information contained herein is obtained from reliable sources. It is subject to change at any time, however, depending on changes in laws and regulations. While we continually attempt to monitor this information, we do not guarantee its accuracy and are not responsible for any damages suffered by any party in reliance on it.