Title 46

SECTION 525.1

525.1 Purpose and scope.

§ 525.1 Purpose and scope.

(a) Purpose. This part implements the Shipping Act of 1984, as amended by the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 and the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1998. The form and manner requirements of this part are necessary to enable the Commission to meet its responsibilities with regard to identifying and preventing unreasonable preference or prejudice and unjust discrimination pursuant to section 10 of the Act (46 U.S.C. 41101-41106).

(b) Scope. This part sets forth the regulations for the publication of terminal schedules by marine terminal operators. Information made available under this part may be used to determine marine terminal operators' compliance with shipping statutes and regulations.

(1) Act means the Shipping Act of 1984, as amended by the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 and the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1998.

(2) Bulk cargo means cargo that is loaded and carried in bulk without mark or count, in a loose unpackaged form, having homogenous characteristics. Bulk cargo loaded into intermodal equipment, except LASH or Seabee barges, is subject to mark and count and is, therefore, subject to the requirements of this part.

(3) Checking means the service of counting and checking cargo against appropriate documents for the account of the cargo or the vessel, or other person requesting same.

(4) Commission means the Federal Maritime Commission.

(5) Dockage means the charge assessed against a vessel for berthing at a wharf, pier, bulkhead structure, or bank or for mooring to a vessel so berthed.

(6) Effective date means the date a schedule or an element of a schedule becomes effective. Where there are multiple publications on the same day, the last schedule or element of a schedule published with the same effective date is the one effective for that day.

(7) Expiration date means the last day, after which the entire schedule or a single element of the schedule, is no longer in effect.

(8) Forest products means forest products including, but not limited to, lumber in bundles, rough timber, ties, poles, piling, laminated beams, bundled siding, bundled plywood, bundled core stock or veneers, bundled particle or fiber boards, bundled hardwood, wood pulp in rolls, wood pulp in unitized bales, paper and paper board in rolls or in pallet or skid-sized sheets, liquid or granular by-products derived from pulping and papermaking, and engineering wood products.

(9) Free time means the period specified in the terminal schedule during which cargo may occupy space assigned to it on terminal property, including off-dock facilities, free of wharf demurrage or terminal storage charges immediately prior to the loading or subsequent to the discharge of such cargo on or off the vessel.

(10) Handling means the service of physically moving cargo between point of rest and any place on the terminal facility, other than the end of ship's tackle.

(11) Heavy lift means the service of providing heavy lift cranes and equipment for lifting cargo.

(12) Loading and unloading means the service of loading or unloading cargo between any place on the terminal and railroad cars, trucks, lighters or barges or any other means of conveyance to or from the terminal facility.

(13) Marine terminal operator means a person engaged in the United States or a commonwealth, territory, or possession thereof, in the business of furnishing wharfage, dock, warehouse or other terminal facilities in connection with a common carrier, or in connection with a common carrier and a water carrier subject to Subchapter II of Chapter 135 of Title 49, United States Code. A marine terminal operator includes, but is not limited to, terminals owned or operated by states and their political subdivisions; railroads who perform port terminal services not covered by their line haul rates; common carriers who perform port terminal services; and warehousemen who operate port terminal facilities. For the purposes of this part, marine terminal operator includes conferences of marine terminal operators.

(14) Organization name means an entity's name on file with the Commission and for which the Commission assigns an organizational number.

(15) Person includes individuals, firms, partnerships, associations, companies, corporations, joint stock associations, trustees, receivers, agents, assignees and personal representatives.

(16) Rate means a price quoted in a schedule for providing a specified level of marine terminal service or facility for a stated cargo quantity, on and after a stated effective date or within a defined time frame.

(17) Schedule means a publication containing the actual rates, charges, classifications, regulations and practices of a marine terminal operator. The term “practices” refers to those usages, customs or modes of operation which in any way affect, determine or change the rates, charges or services provided by a marine terminal operator.

(18) Terminal facilities means one or more structures comprising a terminal unit, which include, but are not limited to, wharves, warehouses, covered and/or open storage spaces, cold storage plants, cranes, grain elevators and/or bulk cargo loading and/or unloading structures, landings, and receiving stations, used for the transmission, care and convenience of cargo and/or passengers in the interchange of same between land and water carriers or between two water carriers.

(19) Terminal services includes checking, dockage, free time, handling, heavy lift, loading and unloading, terminal storage, usage, wharfage, and wharf demurrage, as defined in this section. The definitions of terminal services set forth in this section shall be set forth in terminal schedules, except that other definitions of terminal services may be used if they are correlated by footnote, or other appropriate method, to the definitions set forth herein. Any additional services which are offered shall be listed and charges therefor shall be shown in the terminal schedule.

(20) Terminal storage means the service of providing warehouse or other terminal facilities for the storage of inbound or outbound cargo after the expiration of free time, including wharf storage, shipside storage, closed or covered storage, open or ground storage, bonded storage and refrigerated storage.

(21) Usage means the use of a terminal facility by any rail carrier, lighter operator, trucker, shipper or consignee, its agents, servants, and/or employees, when it performs its own car, lighter or truck loading or unloading, or the use of said facilities for any other gainful purpose for which a charge is not otherwise specified.

(22) Wharf demurrage means a charge assessed against cargo remaining in or on terminal facilities after the expiration of free time, unless arrangements have been made for storage.

(23) Wharfage means a charge assessed against the cargo or vessel on all cargo passing or conveyed over, onto, or under wharves or between vessels (to or from barge, lighter, or water), when berthed at wharf or when moored in slip adjacent to a wharf. Wharfage is solely the charge for use of a wharf and does not include charges for any other service.

[64 FR 9283, Feb. 25, 1999, as amended at 74 FR 50723, Oct. 1, 2009]