President Biden Nominates Max Vekich to be a Federal Maritime Commissioner

President Biden has nominated Max Vekich, a labor leader from the state of Washington, to be a Federal Maritime Commissioner for a term expiring June 30, 2026. According an announcement from the Whitehouse, Vekich will replace Commissioner Michael A. Khouri.

Max Vekich is a native of Aberdeen, WA and has worked as a longshoreman and as a labor leader with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). He served four terms in the Washington House of Representatives as a Democrat representing House District No. 35 from 1983 to 1991. He chaired three Washington House committees: Agriculture, Trade & Economic Development, and Commerce & Labor. Vekich served in leadership positions with ILWU Local 52 in Seattle from 2006 to 2019. He is a graduate of the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA.

The appointment of Max Vekich requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate and the confirmation process can take several months. Prior to Senate confirmation Vekich cannot begin work at the Commission and Commissioner Khouri may remain in his post at the FMC. Once Vekich joins the FMC he must comply with title 46 Section 301(B) of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations which prohibits sitting Commissioners from engaging in any other business, vocation or employment, and from owning stocks or bonds of any entity the FMC regulates.

New Senior Executive Staff Hired for Key FMC Leadership Roles

Three new Senior Executive Service career staff members have been hired in recent months for key management and leadership roles at the Federal Maritime Commission. All three individuals were hired to fill vacancies created by retirements.

Lucille Marvin assumed the duties of FMC Managing Director on June 14, 2021. Ms. Marvin was most recently with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) where she served as Director of the STB Office of Public Assistance, Governmental Affairs, and Compliance. Previously, Ms. Marvin was a staff attorney at the FMC for four years before joining the STB in 2008. Earlier, she served as a legislative assistant to two members of Congress, Mark E. Udall (D-CO) and David E. Skaggs (D-CO). Lucille Marvin is a graduate of Kansas State University and earned her J.D. in 2002 from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Earlier this year, Patrick Moore was hired to serve as FMC’s Chief Financial Officer and Director of Enterprise Services and Kristen Monaco to serve as Director of the FMC Bureau of Trade Analysis. Patrick Moore joined the FMC from the Department of Homeland Security where he held a variety of positions over the past 18 years. He also has 25 years of active duty and reserve service with the U.S. Coast Guard. Kristen Monaco was previously with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and earlier in her career on the faculty of California State University Long Beach, where she focused on transportation economics. She earned a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

PierPass Fees at Los Angeles and Long Beach to Increase 2.2% Effective August 1, 2021

Members of the West Coast Marine Terminal Operators Agreement (WCMTOA) announced that the PierPass fee will increase on August 1, 2021 by 2.2 percent, from USD 33.47 per TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit), and USD 66.94 for all other container sizes, to USD 34.21 per TEU, and USD 68.42 per FEU (forty-foot equivalent unit), respectively.

This fee is called the PierPass Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) and 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 cargo or export cargo that transits the Alameda Corridor in a container and is subject to a fee imposed by the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority, and transshipment cargo. Empty chassis and bobtail trucks are also exempt from the TMF. PierPass does not set a fee for less than containerload (LCL) shipments. NVOCCs who impose a PierPass fee for LCL shipments and/or a PierPass handling fee must file these fees in their FMC tariff rules, or clearly note these in their tariff rates or NVOCC Negotiated Rate Arrangements (NRAs).

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) first authorized The West Coast Marine Terminal Operators Agreement (WCMTOA) under FMC Agreement No. 201143 in June 2003. In 2005 the WCMTOA was amended to allow its members to create PierPass, Inc. and implement the “OffPeak program” to reduce severe cargo-related congestion on streets and highways around the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports. OffPeak established regular weeknight night and Saturday work shifts to handle trucks delivering and picking up containers at marine terminals and implemented the PierPass TMF. In November 2018 FMC approved the change of the TMF to the current flat fee for container moves on all shifts, known as PierPass 2.0.

Transpacific Eastbound Carriers File GRIs Effective July 15 and August 1, 2021

Several leading carriers serving the Trans Pacific container trades have recently updated their respective tariffs to include new General Rate Increases (GRIs) effective July 15, 2021, including CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, Hapag Lloyd, HMM Company Limited, Ocean Network Express (ONE), 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 July 15th GRIs will be the fourteenth GRI of 2021 for the East Asia/USA trade lane.

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

NOTE 2: Yang Ming GRIs will be USD 1000 per 40ft container for cargo to destinations USWC, USEC, US Gulf coast, and USD 2000 per 40ft container for cargo to destinations US Inland Points via USWC/USEC, including IPI, Minilandbridge, Reverse IPI (IPI/MLB/RIPI). GRI amounts for all other container sizes are as per formula.

Some carriers updated their tariffs to include new General Rate Increases (GRIs) effective August 1, 2021, including CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, Hapag Lloyd, HMM Company Limited, Ocean Network Express (ONE), 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 1st GRIs will be the fifteenth GRI of 2021 for the East Asia/USA trade lane.

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

NOTE 2: HMM GRIs will be USD 1000 per 40ft container for cargo to destinations USWC, USEC, US Gulf coast, and USD 2000 per 40ft container for cargo to destinations IPI, MLB, RIPI. GRI amounts for all other container sizes are as per formula.

NOTE 3: Yang Ming GRIs will be USD 1000 per 40ft container for cargo to destinations USWC, USEC, US Gulf coast, and USD 2000 per 40ft container for cargo to destinations IPI, MLB, RIPI. GRI amounts for all other container sizes are as per formula.