FROM PierrPASS.

FMC Clears PierPASS to Start Revised OffPeak Program on Nov. 19

The Federal Maritime Commission has voted to take no action regarding the West Coast MTO Agreement amendment authorizing PierPASS to launch its revised OffPeak program of extended gate hours at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach beginning Monday, Nov. 19. 

The revised OffPeak program, informally called PierPASS 2.0, replaces the original OffPeak congestion-pricing model with a system using appointments to mitigate traffic. It uses a reduced Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) across all hours of terminal operation to help offset the cost of operating extended gates.

Cargo owners moving containers into and out of the ports by truck gate and who aren’t already registered with PierPASS can do so at www.pierpass-tmf.org/.

As previously announced, the current TMF of $72.09 per TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) will be reduced to $31.52 per TEU or $63.04 for all other size containers. The TMF will be charged during all shifts on all days.

PierPASS set up the OffPeak program in 2005 to relieve severe congestion in and around the ports. It established new night and Saturday shifts during which trucks can move cargo containers to and from the terminals. The new changes to the OffPeak program are being made in response to requests from port users, who seek increased flexibility and a reduction in the bunching up of trucks that often occurs before the start of the nighttime OffPeak shifts.

More information about the revised OffPeak program is available at www.pierpass.org/about/offpeak-2-0/.  

PierPASS is the agent of the West Coast MTO Agreement (WCMTOA), a discussion agreement filed with the FMC. WCMTOA’s members are the 12 marine terminal operators at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.