Paul Zalai, director of Freight & Trade Alliance which represents transport operators as well as customer brokers and logistics groups, said stevedores should stop imposing fees on trucking and rail companies, and instead charge shipping companies.
"We don't have a problem with stevedores recovering their costs or even being profitable but we want them to do it through negotiations with their commercial client rather than third parties," Mr Zalai said.
Melbourne's third force on the waterfront pushes entry fees beyond $100 a box.
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Mr Zalai said the introduction of new competitors into the stevedoring market such as VICT and Hong Kong's Hutchison Ports had led to "unintended consequence."
"The stevedores have had to sharpen their pencils and give aggressive rates to attract business which is a good thing," he said. "But they've come in very low with rates to shipping lines and then they're left in a position with how are they going to recover increasing costs and stay profitable? And the whole concept of infrastructure surcharges has just sort of grown from there."