WTSA to impose fuel surcharge on shippers

THE 12 lines that make up the Westbound Transpacific Stabilisation Agreement (WTSA), a carrier industry research and discussion group, say they will impose an inland fuel surcharge in a few months.



The carriers, which serve the US-Asia freight market, said in a statement that the reason for implementing such a charge was because they wanted to recoup costs attributed to rising diesel fuel prices.



The inland fuel surcharge will take effect on October 1, however, a firm amount for the new surcharge has not been established yet.



The WTSA said the surcharge will float, in accordance with fluctuating national highway diesel fuel prices posted weekly by the US Department of Energy (DOE), and will be adjusted quarterly - on January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1.



The upcoming October 1 surcharge level will be determined by a weighted averaging of diesel fuel prices over a 13-week period ending August 30, at which time the level will be known and publicly announced.



Two per-container surcharge tiers will be established, one for long-haul rail and combination rail/truck moves, and one for pure truck moves which are largely regional and local.



Since the beginning of 2005, the DOE said that the per-gallon diesel fuel price has risen about 23 per cent, from US$1.96 to $2.41. Class 1 railroads, along with long-haul and regional trucking firms, have been imposing and increasing fuel surcharges to recover these costs since the beginning of 2005.



"As the lead transportation and logistics providers for many international shipments, ocean carriers have been on the receiving end of multiple inland charges as diesel prices have gone up," said WTSA executive director Albert Pierce.



"That's not a sustainable situation; a portion of the burden must be shared by the customer base," he said.



WTSA members include: APL, HMM, China Shipping North America, "K" Line, Cosco, NYK, Evergreen, OOCL, Hanjin, P&O Nedlloyd, Hapag Lloyd, Yang Ming.