Shippers to Pass Rail Charge to Customers
Shipping lines transporting imported containers out of Southern California by rail from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will soon begin passing to their customers charges associated with the new Alameda Corridor express railway, which opens this month.
Effective April 15, the lines will pass along charges of 75 cents per linear container foot for each container imported via the railway.
The Alameda Corridor, a $2.4 billion project, links the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors and the transcontinental rail yards approximately 20 miles inland, east of downtown Los Angeles. It was created to reduce truck traffic and vehicle pollution by expediting the movement of imported container traffic across Southern California.
The project was funded through railroad user fees. The railroads have passed the charges to the ocean carriers, which have passed them on to their customers who are importing goods from Asia. Ocean carriers say they cannot afford to absorb the more than several million dollars in user fees annually for a facility primarily designed to benefit shippers and communities near the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors. —Darryl James
