How import fees have changed since 2021
The share of ocean container shipments charged each fee, by the year the shipment was first invoiced. These are the fees whose billing codes stayed the same across the whole period, so the years compare fairly.
Demurrage
Share of shipments charged, by year
Port congestion surcharge
Share of shipments charged, by year
Per diem (detention)
Share of shipments charged, by year
Driver waiting time
Share of shipments charged, by year
* 2026 covers shipments first invoiced January to June. Each year is weighted so no importer counts for more than 25% of the figure.
The figures
| Year | Demurrage | Per diem (detention) | Customs exam | Port congestion surcharge | Driver waiting time | Shipments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8.7% | 4.0% | 1.6% | 5.0% | 13.9% | 1,593 |
| 2022 | 4.3% | 2.1% | 0.9% | 18.9% | 8.7% | 1,693 |
| 2023 | 2.1% | 2.0% | 0.9% | 8.3% | 6.9% | 3,780 |
| 2024 | 2.6% | 4.5% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 6.4% | 4,545 |
| 2025 | 1.7% | 2.5% | 0.6% | 1.7% | 5.1% | 4,101 |
| 2026* | 0.8% | 1.7% | 0.4% | 0.8% | 7.5% | 1,663 |
What changed
Demurrage fell from 8.7% of shipments in 2021 to 0.8% in 2026. In 2021 terminals were jammed, appointments were scarce and boxes sat past their free time. As congestion cleared, the share of containers charged demurrage dropped by roughly nine tenths.
Congestion surcharges came and went. They hit a peak in 2022, when truckers and ramps charged extra for the hours lost in queues, and have mostly disappeared since.
Per diem has not fallen as far. Detention is driven by how fast importers unload and return empties, so it depends on warehouses as much as on ports.
Chassis and pre-pull fees are not in this table because their billing codes changed during the period. See the methodology.
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