Southern California truckers who said they were improperly charged late fees for containers they couldn’t return on time to gridlocked ports received mixed decisions in the first arbitrators’ rulings on their cases.
Arbitrators this week issued their first four rulings on the dozens of claims submitted to arbitration under the Uniform Intermodal Interchange Agreement, which is administered by the Intermodal Association of North America.
Truckers challenged equipment providers’ assessment of per-diem detention penalties for late return of containers to Los Angeles and Long Beach terminals. The motor carriers claimed severe congestion at terminals made it impossible for them to return containers before allotted free time expired.