Vehicle importers face another cost increase as Australian Amalgamated Terminals (AAT) announce that they will charge storage on weekends and holidays from 01 June. While the recent focus has been on costs incurred by contaminated imports, AAT say this issue is “no longer contributing to berthing or yard congestion.” Instead, they claim the delays are attributed to ‘exceedingly high’ imports, high discharge volumes on individual vessels, extending berthing time along with yard capacity as the large discharge impacts the entire supply chain.
Vessel discharge volume averages for cars are now at double the long-term average, according to AAT, and delivering cars out of the terminal and creating space has become their biggest challenge. The extended berthing delays for Pure Car Carriers (PCC) and RoRo vessels are occurring at both AAT’s Port Kembla (PK) and Fisherman Islands (FI) facilities.
The extension of storage fees to cover weekends and holidays come with AAT’s latest announcement, which is available in full, in PDF, at this LINK. They say they are ‘forced to change’ their storage policy for the delivery of cars, wheeled and tracked vehicles from their terminals – which includes 3 free days storage from vessel departure – but currently excludes weekends and public holidays.
AAT advises that, from 01 June 2023, weekends and public holidays will now be included as a working day. At the expiry of the free three days storage period, storage charges will become applicable regardless of day of the week.
They add that, given there are no terminal restrictions, cars, wheeled and tracked vehicles are available for collection at their sites 24/7, they will now require the rest of the supply chain to also participate on this basis to clear the terminals faster.
A statement from our industry body, the IFCBAA, says that the flow on effects are likely to be significant, as many factors influence the clearance and collection of all import cargo with considerations to: Biosecurity inspections and lead times; DAFF overtime charges; transport availability; weekend surcharges and storage charges – which ultimately flows on to end consumers.
Read our related articles on Contaminated Car Imports and The Cause of Delays in Car Imports.
Colless Young should be your first stop for shipping cars, trucks and motorcycles. If you are buying a second-hand vehicle make sure you contact us prior to shipping so that we can help make all the necessary arrangements and be certain you do not encounter any surprises that could be expensive in the end.
We offer shipping by Airfreight, Roll-On Roll-Off vessels and Containerised seafreight movements. Our complete range of logistics services cover import and export cargo, both air and sea, through all Australian ports and airports.
