Cover Story
Whose bill is it anyway ?
Stakeholders sorting out per diem invoicing under new FMC rules
By Michael Angell
More than a month after their rollout , the US Federal Maritime Commission ’ s ( FMC ) new rules on detention and demurrage billing still face questions about whether truckers can ever be responsible for such charges . Billing policy changes among ocean carriers are also causing angst as the shipping industry figures out what should get billed to whom under the agency ’ s new rules .
Ninety days after its initial publication , the FMC ’ s final rulemaking on detention and demurrage went into effect May 28 . The rulemaking limits the responsibility of paying detention and demurrage charges to the entity that has the direct transportation contract with the ocean carrier or non-vessel-operating common carrier , most typically a beneficial cargo owner ( BCO ) or shipper . A consignee for the container can also become a “ billed party ” for a per diem invoice under the FMC rulemaking , even if it did not originally contract for ocean freight transportation .
Along with the billing information requirements promulgated in the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 ( OSRA-22 ), the rulemaking requires detention and demurrage invoices only be sent to one party and they must be sent within 30 days of the last charges accruing . www . joc . com July 1 , 2024 | Journal of Commerce 11