With the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, US maritime shipping laws have updated a few rules that are going to benefit your business in the US. Get a thorough understanding of what these regulations are and save money on expensive D&D charges, on this blog.
Ocean freight is the pillar of international trade. And the US has a lot of influence over global trade due to the country’s power and wealth. This is why the ports here serve as massive economic trade hubs with extensive global importance. The country deals with a massive number of imports and exports – thus, becoming home to some of the busiest ports in the US.
With this level of influence on global trade, concerns over rising costs, unjust and high D&D charges, and other freight-related issues come into play. Hence, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), decided to implement the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA). The laws of this act are focused on managing the issues that exporters and other parties involved in freight transport face in the US. The initiatives also focus on eradicating supply chain disruptions with better planning.
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What is the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) of 2022?
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) of 2022 is a set of regulations that aim to address issues such as fluctuating prices, and D&D charges among other factors to improve the movement of US agricultural goods and other exports.
It increases the authority of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to promote the growth and development of US exports through an ocean transportation system that is efficient, and economical. This act aims to improve ocean freight transportation and conditions nationwide to ensure all parties involved work seamlessly. Thus, improving the movement of international freight shipping.
Some of the ways in which it aims to achieve this are:
- By giving more proactive roles and responsibilities to the FMC to investigate carrier behavior.
- Establishing rules governing fairness in detention and demurrage charges.
- Enforcing carriers’ obligations to support US exports.
Speaking of D&D charges, did you know that you can avoid these fees by leasing SOCs (shipper-owned containers)? With SOCs your daily rental fees don’t depend on the duration of the rental. They stay the same price per day. Also, with SOCs when you lease containers from shippers, you’re under no obligation to pay demurrage and detention to carriers. So, you avoid unexpected demurrage and detention costs as you are not obligated to move and/or return the containers to and from the carrier within a certain time frame.
On Container xChange you can find 50,000+ SOCs to choose from and save your business hundreds of dollars worth of D&D charges. Check it out for yourself!
What does the Ocean Shipping Reform Act mean for shipping and logistics?
In recent years, domestic and international supply chains have experienced unprecedented levels of disruption. And despite recovery efforts, the market remains unstable; container flow imbalance, empty container repositioning, and high D&D charges remain a never-ending problem. This, along with shifting ocean freight rates, expenses, and profit margins is taking a toll on shippers, and other players in the industry.
For example, during COVID-19, exporters, and American farmers, couldn’t get their products to customers through traditional freight marketplaces because of port congestion. Between rising shipping costs, long delays, and issues with food getting spoilt and cargo loss, the supply chain was heavily disrupted.
US Senator Cantwell in a report in June 2022 expressed his views on how following the regulations of OSRA can resolve the problems stated above amicably in the future. He said, “Consumers are tired of paying higher prices for everyday goods, and our farmers are tired of paying skyrocketing shipping costs. With President Biden’s signature, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act will level the playing field between big international shipping lines and agricultural exporters so all our products will no longer be stranded on the docks.”
The need for improved planning in supply chain management and import/export logistics is essential to ensure a smooth flow of the movement of goods. Hence, the main objective of the OSRA 2022 initiative is to protect US exporters and encourage more exports from the country to boost the economy and keep the supply chain moving.
To achieve this, there are several initiatives in place that are going to help smoothen and streamline the operations between carriers, shippers’ importers, and exporters, for better trade flow.
A deep-dive into the Ocean Shipping Reform Act’s initiatives
OSRA helps protect US exporters and encourage more exports from the country in the following ways:
- Direct carriers to track, record, and report the number of empty containers transported regularly.
- Prohibits a carrier’s retaliation against a shipping company, forwarder, or service provider. And ensures they do not refute service or capacity purely in retaliation.
- Investigates carrier behavior and has laws in place to rule out unjust D&D charges and promote fairness.
- Enforces carrier’s obligations to support U.S. exports.
- Shifts the burden of proof to carriers in the case of disputes. This is a huge benefit to shippers who did not file complaints in the past due to this burden.
To get in-depth details into the other laws and initiatives it states click right here.
As you can see above one of the ways in which OSRA helps protect US exporters and encourages more exports is to rule out unjust D&D charges. And you already know how you can avoid D&D charges altogether using SOCS. But did you know on our platform you can also lease SOCS as a one-way container to curb empty container repositioning? That’s right you can get your boxes moved from a surplus area to a deficit area. And after moving your cargo, you can sell the container again on our platform at a good price and help in repositioning them. Hop onto our platform today to lease one way and let our expert team help you along the way!
Ocean Shipping Reform Act: Get the latest D&D updates with xChange’s market report
Continuing our D&D journey we’ve put together a market research for you. Our Annual Demurrage and Detention Benchmark Report. Here you’ll get more clarity on what’s going on with these charges across the world. And the new rules governing them. Have a look at some insightful information from the report in the image below.
You can get in-depth industry insights on D&D charges across 60 ports and 7 shipping lines at no extra cost. Download your free copy of our Demurrage and Detention Benchmark: 2023 report.
Avoid D&D charges by leasing SOCs on Container xChange
As you already now know, the way around costly D&D charges is by leasing SOCs on our platform. Here you’ll find 50,000+ SOC container types in 2,500 locations worldwide. When leasing from suppliers you can keep your transactions 100% secure with our 1,500+ vetted suppliers. You can negotiate with them directly, without a middleman, and, see performance review ratings on their company profile on xChange.
As for prices, you can lease units at reasonable rates thanks to our complete market price transparency. With us, you can compare prices and terms and select the offer that suits you the best – you choose exactly what you want to pay for.
Click on the banner below to lease your SOC at the most competitive rates with zero hidden fees that you won’t find anywhere outside of the platform and save on D&D charges.
Ocean Shipping Reform Act 2.0: The 2023 Edition
Coming back to the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, here are the latest updates made to this act.
The chart below gives you a comparison between the rules in 2023 and 2022.
| 2023 OSRA regulation updates | 2022 OSRA regulations |
| Focuses on eliminating the woes faced by freight forwarders and beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) in the process of freight shipping. | Applied to carriers to help shippers and mainly exporters with international freight movement. |
| Includes dairy exporters too, as dairy products rely upon consistent ocean shipping to reach international customers. | Rules focused mainly on improving and increasing agricultural exports in the US. |
| It aims to deliver efficiencies that reduce emissions and enable more effective responses to supply chain disruptions. | The act solely focused on generating hassle-free export experiences to boost exports. |
Save money on expensive D&S charges: Lease SOC containers on xChange
If you’ve made it this far, you’ve got an understanding of all there is to know about the Ocean Shipping Reform Act. The only thing left to do now is lease SOC containers on our platform and eliminate D&D charges. Here’s how it works:
- Log on to our leasing platform
- Choose ‘I want to use containers’
- Key in your pick-up and drop-off locations and hit search
- You will get a list of available containers on that particular stretch
- Pick your container type and then see a list of offers from vetted suppliers under one dashboard
- You can ‘view details of the suppliers and the deals they’re offering
- You can then compare these offers and pick a deal that works for you
- Then you can connect with the suppliers directly via chats and calls on the platform and negotiate deals and terms
- And get your SOC right away!
After this, keep an eye on your SOC with our near real-time container tracking feature and get alerts on ETAsWhat is estimated time of arrival? Estimated time of arrival, commonly known as ETA, is a frequently used term globally to denote the time of coming. In the shipping & logistics industry, it is ... More, delays, container rollovers, and more. All this plus our payment handling system also known as the xChange wallet, can help you handle your payments with ease by generating only one consolidated bill for you to pay and securely managing all your transactions in one place.
We also have big names in the industry working with us, such as Seaco Global, Trident, SeaCube, and other trusted names with whom you can work directly while also building your business network.
With your logistics hassles handled by the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, don’t wait any longer! Get your SOC secured with us today and get that shipment out from the US by clicking the banner below.
Ocean Shipping Reform Act: Common FAQ
What is OSRA?
The OSRA stands for Ocean Shipping Reform Act.
What is the ocean shipping reform?
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) is a set of regulations that aim to address issues such as fluctuating prices, and D&D charges among other factors to improve the transparency of the movement of U.S. agricultural goods and other exports.
What is FMC?
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is the independent federal agency responsible for regulating the U.S. international ocean transportation system for the benefit of U.S. exporters, importers, and the U.S. consumer.
