LOS ANGELES, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach announced Monday that they will delay for the fourth time a fee on shipping companies whose containers linger at marine terminals.

The "Container Dwell Fee," announced in a joint statement from both port directors on Oct. 25, said the carriers would be charged 100 U.S. dollars a day per container left on the dock and the companies have a maximum of nine days to move containers by truck and six days by rail before fines start accruing.

Before the pandemic-induced import surge began in mid-2020, containers for local delivery on average remained on terminals for less than four days, while containers destined for trains dwelled less than two days, the ports said.

In a joint statement release Monday by the twin ports, who account for 40 percent of sea freight entering the United States, the ports had seen a combined decline of 37 percent in aging cargo on the docks since the fines were announced.

"The executive directors of both ports will reassess fee implementation after another week of monitoring data," the statement said.

Citing recent progress in addressing the backlog of cargo ships and containers off the California coast, the nation's busiest port complex has delayed the fee for the fourth time.

According to the Southern California Marine Exchange, as of Friday, the number of cargo ships docked off the Los Angeles coast was still high. Enditem

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