Samsung Electronics of America (SEA) is a major user of container shipping. They have decided to fight back against excessive and frequently undocumented Detention and Demurrage (D&D) bills from carriers. This article spells out the claims.
Overall, Samsung thinks ocean carriers were selling door-to-door service and couldn’t deliver it. So they started billing customers to recover their costs.
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has recently established rules about billing for such services, making the billing more transparent and requiring documentation for each charge. This will help shoppers, who are frequently baffled by the charges.
It’s essential to close down the practice of billing without thorough documentation. Seagate should have lots of winning arguments in these cases. There were so many temporary closures, changing windows for pickup and delivery, and other delays not caused by the shipper during the COVID era and after, that most D&D charges were probably due to slipups out of the shipper’s control, and perhaps even the carrier’s control. Carriers should not be entitled to profit from these.
Nick Savvides | Jun 17, 2024
Supply Chain and Logistics 