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United Truckers Group members were asked to keep rejecting import containerized cargoes of Taiwan-based carrier TS Lines
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This is until a MOA for a long-term solution to return of empty boxes is signed with the carrier
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In a meeting called by the Bureau of Customs, United Truckers proposed four conditions under a MOA
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TS Lines agent Ben Line Agencies Phils. committed to discussing the proposal with TS Lines and the Association of International Shipping Lines but is opposing two of the four conditions
The United Truckers Group has asked its members to continue rejecting import containerized cargoes of Taiwan-based carrier TS Lines until a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for a long-term solution to issues on return of empty containers is signed.
In a virtual general membership meeting on November 21, the group said no resolution was arrived at with TS Lines’ general agent, Ben Line Agencies Phils. Inc., after a meeting called by Bureau of Customs Acting Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz.
The meeting tackled the group’s October 20 memo asking members to temporarily stop accepting import containers of TS Lines starting November 1.
READ: Truckers seek temporary stop to acceptance of TS Lines’ boxes
The move was made after the group, which consists of the Confederation of Truckers Association of the Philippines (CTAP), Inland Haulers and Truckers Association, and Haulers and Truckers Association in the Watersouth, said it had received numerous complaints from members about alleged “extraordinary difficulty and delays” in returning empty containers of the shipping line.
During the BOC meeting, the group said it proposed four conditions to a “working proposal” for an MOA between the shipping line and the truckers. These are:
- Empty container release orders should specify the empty return location.
- No empty return to port terminals.
- No pre-advise should be required. Shipping line should guarantee acceptance of empty containers within 72 hours upon pull-out of a container from the port.
- If no empty container return location is available, truck demurrage should be imposed by the trucker on the shipping line, which should not impose a detention charge.
The group said Ben Line had committed to discussing the proposal with TS Lines and the Association of International Shipping Lines (AISL), representatives of whom were also present during the meeting. The shipping agent, however, opposed the proposal of no empty return to port terminals and for a truck demurrage to be imposed on TS Lines while no detention charge should be levied on truckers in case of unavailability of empty return location.
A meeting was set again on November 15 but this did not push through. Instead, Ben Line sent CTAP a letter on November 16 asking for the group to withdraw its October 20 advisory and reiterating that it has addressed the issue on empty returns.
As in its October 21 letter to CTAP, Ben Line said it has no issues with empty returns and has cited various container yards and port terminals where its empty containers may be returned.
Although immediate agreements were not made during the meeting, officers of the truckers group “remain hopeful that the concerned shipping line will acknowledge the problem and work towards a mutually acceptable resolution of the matter.”
The group once again called on members during the virtual meeting to join the temporary non-acceptance of import containers of TS Lines, as there are reports that some member truckers continue to handle the boxes.
In an advisory on November 21 following the virtual general membership meeting, CTAP called for a year-end general membership meeting on November 24 to discuss various topics, including issues on the return of empty containers.
Stakeholders, particularly truckers and customs brokers, have been raising issues on the return of empty containers, including non-availability of slots and queueing in container yards which, they said, entails additional costs, lost opportunities to handle more containers, and drivers leaving due to difficult working conditions.
The Alliance of Container Yard Operators of the Philippines (ACYOP) said in September that utilization of members’ depots was high due to an imbalance in container movement, with more container returns resulting from increased import volumes and vessel arrival delays than pullouts. One of ACYOP’s members is a container yard provider for TS Lines.
The high utilization of container yards was also mainly attributed by AISL president Patrick Ronas to vessel delays into Manila following delays in origin ports.
BOC earlier said it would require accreditation for empty container yards to exercise supervision and control as part of the agency’s trade facilitation mandate.
A task group has been formed to work closely with stakeholders on issues relating to the return of empty containers and is discussing a proposal to automate monitoring of return of empties to shipping lines’ designated container yards. – Roumina Pablo
