An American tire importer is the latest shipper to take container lines to the regulators, reports Splash247.
Complaint against Evergreen
New Jersey-based Foreign Tire Sales has filed a complaint with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) claiming Taiwan’s Evergreen Group has exploited its customers and manipulated the market to increase prices and profits.
The tire importer stated it had a service contract with Evergreen to provide shipping services from May 1, 2021, through April 30, 2022. The contract stipulated Evergreen must provide space for a minimum of 100 forty foot containers. Foreign Tire Sales said that as of the end of January, Evergreen had provided space for 17 containers — less than 20% of what had been agreed in the contract.
$1m fine!
Foreign Tire Sales said it has had to spend an extra $1m diving into the spot market over the past year to get its goods to market.
Foreign Tire Sales claimed that Evergreen, and other carriers, created “the appearance of a lack of space in their ships”
“Evergreen and other international ocean freight carriers have organized themselves into collusive alliances at the expense of shippers,” the complaint alleges.
Recouping the charges
Foreign Tire Sales is seeking to recoup the $1m it has paid on the spot market plus damages and legal fees from Evergreen, which has yet to respond to the complaint.
The FMC has been inundated with complaints from shippers over the past year, a period of time where liners have made record profits while schedule reliability has hit all-time lows.
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Source: Splash247
