| FREIGHTWAVES 19.4.2019 - MARINR TERMINAL OPERATORS STING AUSTRALIAN SHIPPERS, TRUCKERS WITH HUGE SURCHARGES Commenting on the ongoing price escalations, Paul Zalai, founder and CEO of the Freight & Trade Alliance said: "Why wouldn't you turn on the money tap whenever you want?" Zalai also argues that shippers and trucking companies should not have to bear the costs at all. He argues that as the customers of the marine box terminal operators are the ocean-shipping lines and that it is the ocean-shipping lines who should pay. The terminal operators argue that the land-side surcharges are necessary and justified ... "This is a crisis for Australian exporters," the Freight & Trade Alliance said in a submission to a government inquiry. Cargo owners can't simply pick different terminal operators to avoid the charges. Shipping lines run ships on particular routes and on particular schedules. From a shipper's perspective there may be reliability issues from ocean carrier to ocean carrier. Cargo owners might need to ship their exports at certain times, on certain schedules and to a given standard of reliability. Some shippers enter into long-term export contracts with certain shipping lines. Ocean carriers also cooperate and coordinate their operations. Shipping services that appear to be different from each other and which are offered by different shipping companies may, in practice, use exactly the same ship to carry their shippers' cargo. And all of that means shippers do not, in practice, have a choice of terminal operator. And, in turn, that means shippers cannot avoid imposed surcharges.
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