As you are likely already aware, US load ports routinely weigh containers upon gate-in and provide weights to Maersk via EDI 322 transactions for VGM purposes, which is aligned with the Declaration of Equivalency to the SOLAS Regulation VI/2, issued by the U.S. Coast Guard in their Marine Safety Information Bulletin dated April 28, 2016.
However, not all containers are scaled by all US load ports. Export containers moving by RAIL to US load ports listed below are not scaled by the ocean terminal:
- Long Beach ITS Pier G
- Long Beach SSA Terminal Pier A
- Long Beach Total Terminals Int’l
- Los Angeles APL Eagle Terminal
- Los Angeles APM Terminal Pier 400
- Miami POMTOC
- Mobile Container Terminal
- Newark APM Terminal Berth 88
- Seattle SSA Terminal T18
- Tacoma Husky Terminal
Also as outlined in the Marine Safety Information Bulletin, the U.S. Coast Guard declared “for the purposes of determining the VGM of a container, any equipment currently being used to comply with Federal or State laws, including the Intermodal Safe Container Transportation Act and the container weight requirements in 29 CFR 1918.85(b), are acceptable for the purpose of complying with SOLAS.”
Therefore, in lieu of shipper’s VGM submission for rail cargo via these load ports, Maersk uses the cargo weight declared by the Shipper or their Agent in the rail billing request, and adds the container tare weight to produce a VGM.
Cargo weight in the rail billing request should be as accurate as possible to help ensure safe inland transport and stowage planning for the vessel. If you believe the VGM updated in our system based on the rail billing weight should be amended for accuracy, please write to us at us.customerexperience@maersk.com prior to the vessel cutoff at the load port.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your local customer service representative. You will find contact details of our local offices on maersk.com
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