Shippers continue to lobby for all-in freight rates

ALTHOUGH THERE is little noise being made at the moment, the shipper and freight forwarding sectors still have a sharp focus on getting rid of all the various seafreight surcharges that have been inflicted over the years. “This is still very much on the agenda,” said an activist, who has always been at the forefront of the surcharge skirmish. “All-in” freight rates is the ultimate aim, he told FTW. “At present we are working out whether our case would be best handled by the Competition Commission – or whether we will have to follow another course.” Although not necessarily the most expensive surcharge, one that frequently continues to raise its head is the dirty container levy, imposed as a surcharge for all container users, whether returning dirty containers or not. Our source condemned this as “punishing everyone for the guilt of a few”, and described it as “unjust enrichment” on the part of the shipping lines. “The simple answer, surely, is that the lines should take a photo of any dirty container, and invoice the guilty user for the cleaning cost,” he added.