The Federal Maritime Commission will take no action to prevent amendments to the West Coast MTO Agreement (WCMTOA) related to “PierPass” from becoming effective.

The current two-tier PierPass fee structure will now be replaced with a uniform flat fee applicable to certain container moves on all shifts.

In addition appointment systems for dray truckers serving marine terminal facilities at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach will be implemented to streamline port operations.

The Commission directed agency staff to review how monitoring requirements on WCMTOA can be enhanced and plans to consider and vote on staff recommendations on how to increase monitoring of the agreement at a later time.

Commissioner Rebecca Dye said, “All parties concerned with the supply chain—carriers, terminal operators, truckers, and shippers—should focus on port efficiency and cargo fluidity. I share Chairman Khouri’s concerns about aspects of PierPass, and emphasize that achieving actual visibility into the supply chain will ultimately alleviate the need for programs like PierPass.”

The amended agreement goes into effect on Monday, November 19, 2018.