"The chief executive of the Harbor Trucking Assn., which represents the trucking companies dealing with these issues every day, says that any little bit helps,

"The chief executive of the Harbor Trucking Assn., which represents the trucking companies dealing with these issues every day, says that any little bit helps, but the measure doesn't change all that much. For one thing, allowing the stacks to climb higher doesn't guarantee they'll do so. "“I applaud Mayor Garcia for taking some leadership in all this, but the challenge is procuring the equipment to stack that high,” Matt Schrap said. Most yards don’t have the top loaders necessary, let alone the skilled operator and space to safely and efficiently stack containers. "The real issue, Schrap says, is just that the shipping companies won’t take their empty containers back: “The ocean carriers need to come sweep out the empties.” Adding insult to injury, the ocean carriers bill truckers a late fee every day for unreturned empty containers, Schrap said, even if they won’t accept them at the port. “It makes you want to pick up your laptop and Frisbee it out into the backyard,” Schrap said. “That’s the frustration running through our veins.”" But yes, "Bureaucracy and red tape abounds. We need to let the free market work". "Local politicians are betting that a new fee on containers idling at the docks — charged to the ocean shipping companies themselves — will get some boxes moving. Starting in November, any container meant for a truck that sits at either port for more than nine days will incur a $100 fee, followed by escalating fees of $100 more each day. If a container is meant to go on a train, those fees kick in after just six days on the dock. "But the new fee doesn't apply to empty containers. Schrap, the Harbor Trucking Assn. chief executive, said that he was baffled by the omission. The reason that pickup slots are going unused is the empty containers taking up space on the back of trucks, he said. "This fee is a shot across the bow at the ocean carriers because they need them to be engaged," Schrap said, "but it's mind-boggling to me that this is not being applied to empty containers."" So, ... yeah.