A report released recently by financial services firm Cowen and Company reveals that the cost of transporting goods may sharply rise, together with delays, as a result of the requirement to weigh shipping containers, with the cost to ship a container from Los Angeles to Shanghai potentially increasing by 14%, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Importers aim to resolve bottlenecks by transporting freight using air cargo transportation, according to the report.
The report said: “Extended shipping times could result in greater airfreight usage for key back-to-school deliveries; and potential inventory markdown or cancelled orders risk from delayed shipments.”
As well as the delays and increased costs associated with the new container weighing rule, various shippers have expressed their concerns as to the lack of clarity for the new rule, which is due to come into effect on July 1, 2016.
The shipping container will need to be weighed via one of two methods. The first involves the container being weighed in its entirety, with the contents still inside. The second requires that the contents be weighed separately from the gross mass of the container.
By law, containers cannot be loaded onto a ship before the verified gross mass of a container has been declared.
APMT is the latest terminal operator to look into the feasibility of implementing a container weighing service at any number of its 72 terminals.
PTI recently spoke with Simon Everett, Managing Director of Strainstall, in which he further discusses the implementation of the new contianer weighing rule.
White Paper: Container Weighing Explained
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