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News ArchiveView previous articles here or visit to our current news page
Update to Hawaii Holiday Sailing ScheduleRecently the two steamship lines serving Hawaii have decided to cancel their sailings from Pacific Northwest Ports to Honolulu the week between Christmas and New Year's. This revised schedule means there will still be a sailing from Port of Seattle to Honolulu on Sunday, 12/23/07. Cut-off for receipt of cargo at the AFF Hawaiian Ocean Transport dock in Tacoma for this sailing is noon on Friday, 12/21/07. Cutoffs for receipt of cargo at our Rancho Dominguez dock would be at noon on Monday, 12/24/07 and noon on Thursday, 12/27/07 respectively for the Tuesday night and Friday night sailings.
ALASKA, HAWAII Posted 11/27/07 Holiday Hours – Sailing Schedules
Alaska Christmas and New Years: The normally scheduled Wednesday and Friday sailings will not occur during the weeks prior to Christmas and New Years. There will be only one sailing both weeks and those will both be on Thursday, December 20th and December 27th. Cut-off for receipt of cargo at AFF Dock Tacoma will be at noon the day of each sailing. All hazardous materials shipments must be received at AFF dock 24 hours prior to departure. The American Fast Freight offices in Tacoma, Anchorage, Kenai and Fairbanks will be closed on both Christmas day (12/25/07) and New Year’s Day (01/01/08). The same will be true for the AFF affiliates in Alaska; AFF Distribution Services, American Relocation Services and Alaska Archives. Partial crews and customer service personnel will be available on Christmas Eve day and New Year’s Eve day as well as through the National Customer Service and Dispatch center at 800-642-6664.
Hawaii Christmas and New Years: Port of Seattle: There will be no change in the schedule for the sailings on Sundays, December 23rd or December 30th. There will be no change in the cut-offs for receiving cargo at the HOT Tacoma dock on Fridays; December 21st and December 28 th respectively for these sailings. Port of Oakland: There will only be one sailing from Oakland each week. Those will be on Fridays, 12/28/07 and 01/04/08. Normal cut-offs for receipt of cargo at HOT San Leandro facility will apply. There will not be a mid-week sailing on either of these weeks. Port of Long Beach: There will still be sailings on both late Tuesday nights; 12/25/07 and 12/31/07. However, cargo must be received by noon Monday at HOT Rancho Dominguez facility or in-gated at Port of Long Beach, by 11:00 PM on both Mondays 12/24/07 and 12/31/07 to board these two departures. There will be no change either week in the Friday night sailings or cut-off times. The Hawaiian Ocean Transport terminals and offices in Tacoma, Rancho Dominguez, San Leandro and Honolulu will be closed on Tuesday, December 25th and January 1st. Partial crews and customer service personnel will be available on Christmas Eve day and New Year’s Eve day as well as through the National Customer Service and Dispatch center at 800-642-6664. Happy Holidays to All!
ALASKA, HAWAII Posted 10/22/07 Holiday Hours – Sailing Schedules
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Hawaii: |
18.75% of freight charges, effective November 5, 2006 |
Alaska: |
15.5% of freight charges, effective November 5, 2006 |
Puerto Rico: |
Full Container Load (FCL) rate is $365.00 per40/45’ shipping unit and $395.00 per 48/53’ shipping unit, as of November 5, 2006. |
*For barge service in Southeastern Alaska, the fuel surcharge is 15.00% of freight charges,
as of November 15, 2006.
There continue to be fuel surcharges assessed on motor carrier, intermodal and full trailer load linehaul transportation as well. In some cases these are flat charges per container, in others, they are stated as a percentage of freight charges. Every attempt will be made to update the rates on this site, based on receipt of filings from carriers. Each of our invoices will detail the fuel surcharge as a separate item, based on rates in effect at the time of the shipment.
The expected rate increases for ocean freight services between Hawaii and the U.S. Mainland were recently announced by both steamship lines. The General Rate Increases (GRI) cover a number of items, mainly an increase in the basic ocean freight charges, another large increase in Terminal Handling Charges (THC) and other increases in various miscellaneous accessorial fees.
Carriers cite a number of reasons justifying the increases, including high fuel costs, increased security costs and increases related to handling hazardous materials. The increases will take effect on all cargo shipped after January 1, 2007. The recently signed Port Security Act will continue to drive additional costs related to containers being handled through U.S. Ports.
American Fast Freight (AFF) and Hawaiian Ocean Transport (HOT) will continue to do everything within their control to provide reasonable and cost-effective ocean freight rates for our valued customers. However some of these most recent increases will be passed on to the shipping community. We are still reviewing the impact of these increases on our customers’ current shipping program and we will apprise them as soon as we have finished our evaluation. In the interim if you have any questions, contact your nearest AFF/HOT office or your local sales representative.
The two steamship lines serving Alaska recently announced their intentions to file a General Rate Increase (GRI) of between 5.5% and 6.5% with the Surface Transportation Board (STB). The proposed effective date for this increase will be November 27, 2006.It will affect ocean freight rates on all shipments between Alaska and the continental United States.
Although there have been a number of recent decreases in fuel surcharges, carriers still point to the overall negative impact of the spiraling costs of fuel over the year as being one of the contributing forces necessitating rate increases. They further detail a number of increased overhead costs directly related to the recently signed legislation regarding port security in U.S. Ports. Finally they cite the need for additional investments in upgrading their fleets and purchases of additional containers, trailers and associated handling equipment.
American Fast Freight supports the initiatives being taken to protect our ports and will continue to do everything within reason to maintain reasonable, cost-effective freight rates for our clients; however a significant portion of these new increases will have to be shared with the shipping community.
Contact your nearest American Fast Freight office or your AFF sales contact for detailed specifics regarding the impact of these increases on you current rate structure.
NATIONWIDE Posted 06/05/07
After review with Alaska carriers, American Fast Freight has decided to keep the fuel surcharge at 17.50% versus the 18.50% previously announced. These are the ocean carrier fuel surcharges that are or will be in effect (as of date shown) on all ocean freight shipments handled by American Fast Freight and their affiliates.
Hawaii: |
22.50% of freight charges, effective May 27, 2007 |
Alaska: |
17.50% of freight charges, effective June 3, 2007* |
*For barge service in Southeastern Alaska, the fuel surcharge is 16.50% of freight charges, as of May 6, 2007.
There continue to be fuel surcharges assessed on motor carrier, intermodal and full trailer load linehaul transportation as well. In some cases these are flat charges per container, in others, they are stated as a percentage of freight charges. Every attempt will be made to update the rates on this site, based on receipt of filings from carriers. Each of our invoices will detail the fuel surcharge as a separate item, based on rates in effect at the time of the shipment.
NATIONWIDE Posted 05/21/07
In observance of Memorial Day, the American Fast Freight terminals will be closed on Monday, May 28, 2007. While the offices will be partially staffed, the operations terminals will not be receiving cargo on that day, unless special arrangements have been made in advance.
The Memorial Day closures include our facilities in Rancho Dominguez and San Leandro, California, Honolulu, Hawaii, Tacoma and Renton, Washington, and Anchorage, Fairbanks and Soldotna, Alaska.
There will be no change in the various vessel departures that week to Hawaii, Guam and Alaska. However all full trailer or container load shipments scheduled for delivery on Monday will be delivered one day later on Tuesday, May 29, 2007.
Hawaii Fuel Surcharges Jump Two Percent
These are the ocean carrier fuel surcharges that are or will be in effect (as of date shown) on all ocean freight shipments handled by American Fast Freight and their affiliates. Fuel surcharges had been going down in Hawaii each of the previous three announcements. However with this announcement, they will now increase by 2.00% to 19.50% of freight charges. The Alaska fuel surcharges were recently increased by one percent to 16.5%.
Hawaii: |
19.5% of freight charges, effective March 11, 2007 |
Alaska: |
16.5% of freight charges, effective February 25, 2007 |
*For barge service in Southeastern Alaska, the fuel surcharge is 15.00% of freight charges, as of November 15, 2006.
There continue to be fuel surcharges assessed on motor carrier, intermodal and full trailer load linehaul transportation as well. In some cases these are flat charges per container, in others, they are stated as a percentage of freight charges. Every attempt will be made to update the rates on this site, based on receipt of filings from carriers. Each of our invoices will detail the fuel surcharge as a separate item, based on rates in effect at the time of the shipment.
NATIONWIDE Posted 08/16/2006
Ocean Fuel Surcharges Update Rates
These are the ocean carrier fuel surcharges in effect (as of date shown) on all ocean freight shipments handled by American Fast Freight and their affiliates.
Hawaii: |
21.25% of freight charges, as of June 4, 2006 |
Alaska: |
18.5% of freight charges as of May 21, 2006* |
*For barge service in Southeastern Alaska, the fuel surcharge is
19.5% of freight charges.
There continues to be fuel surcharges assessed on motor carrier, intermodal and full trailer load linehaul transportation as well. In some cases these are flat charges per container, in others, they are stated as a percentage of freight charges. American Fast Freight (AFF) must recover its increased fuel costs. A fuel surcharge will be added to individual shipments and will be stated separately on AFF invoices.
The offices and terminals of American Fast Freight, Inc. and its divisions; American Relocation Service, AFF Distribution Services, AFF Logistics and the affiliated companies; Alaska Archives and Hawaiian Ocean Transport, Inc. will be closed on Tuesday, September 4th to celebrate Labor Day.
There will be no changes during this week in the sailing schedules to Alaska, or Hawaii. There will be no change in the receiving schedules at our terminals either. Just as a reminder however, all hazardous materials shipments have to be to our facilities 24 hours prior to the vessel departure date.
Enjoy the Holiday.
The offices and terminals of American Fast Freight, Hawaiian Ocean Transport and the affiliated companies; American Relocation Services and Alaska Archives will be closed on Tuesday, July, 4th to celebrate Independence Day.
There will be no changes during this week in the sailing schedules to Alaska and Hawaii. However we recommend that our clients tendering freight to these facilities on Monday attempt to do so prior to 3:00 PM local time to ensure adequate time to get to the ports in Jacksonville, Oakland and Long Beach in order to make the Tuesday night (early Wednesday morning) vessel departures.
Have a safe and sane Fourth of July.
Shipping rates increase for Hawaii
These are the ocean carrier fuel surcharges in effect (as of date shown) on all ocean freight shipments handled by American Fast Freight and their affiliates.
| Hawaii: |
21.25% of freight charges, as of June 4, 2006 |
| Alaska: |
18.5% of freight charges as of May 21, 2006* |
*For barge service in Southeastern Alaska, the fuel surcharge is 19.5% of freight charges.
There continue to be fuel surcharges assessed on motor carrier, intermodal and full trailer load linehaul transportation as well. In some cases these are flat charges per container, in others, they are stated as a percentage of freight charges. American Fast Freight (AFF) must recover its increased fuel costs. A fuel surcharge will be added to individual shipments and will be stated separately on AFF invoices.
ALASKAPosted 05/01/2006
The Northbound Sailing from Port of Tacoma to the Port of Anchorage on Friday, April 28, 2006 will be the last sailing for automatic Keep From Freezing (KFF) service. KFF service will obviously be reinstated as weather conditions dictate on or about the end of September of this year.
Any customer wishing, for whatever reason, to continue having KFF service provided for their shipments beyond the sailing date above should contact our Customer Service Department at (800) 642-6664
American Fast Freight has published a revised Web Data Center with a creative look offering many new features and easier access to tracking information.
Security precautions at all U.S. ports, both airport and seaports are continuing to get more stringent. The implementation of U. S. Customs' "24 hour" rule regarding cargo being loaded and manifested on vessels bound for U.S. Ports was only the beginning.
There is legislation before Congress now that would further tighten security in and around our ports. One of the main areas being affected is the transportation of hazardous materials. The legislation will require that all ports and barge or steamship lines using those ports receive advance notice of any hazardous materials to be shipped. It also will require all containers or trailers that contain hazardous materials be received at departure port a full twenty-four hours prior to sailing.
American Fast Freight wants to get a jump start on this pending policy now, beginning with shipments to Alaska. We want to ensure that our valued customers, who have hazardous materials shipments, will not face burdensome delays in transporting their water-borne cargoes. For that reason, we are requesting that all shipments containing Hazardous Materials be delivered to our Tacoma receiving yard, or are dispatched for pickup in time to be in our receiving yard the day before the vessel departs.
As that stands now, any hazardous materials shipments for the Wednesday sailing must be received in Tacoma by 5:00 PM on Tuesday. And shipments for the Friday sailing must be received in our Tacoma terminal by 5:00 PM on Thursday.
Assembly will be asked to approve increase in tariff charged on freight.
Mayor Mark Begich joined officials from the Port of Anchorage announcing today that the Assembly will be asked to approve implementation of a security surcharge on all cargo passing over the port's docks to help pay for new security provisions mandated by the federal government. The additional tariff will amount to 40 cents per ton of freight.
New U.S. Coast Guard regulations governing port security will require the Port to implement a host of new procedures under a Facility Security Plan it has filed with the federal government, including providing additional security staffing and facilities. According to Port Director Bill Sheffield the measures will increase the Port's security costs by a factor of four.
"Since September 11, 2001, our costs for contract security services have been approximately $400,000 per year. Under the new regulations and plan, we expect costs to exceed $1.7 million per year," said Sheffield. "We could no longer afford to provide this security solely out of Port earnings."
Sheffield gave credit to businesses operating at the Port for implementing the new plan and proposing a way to pay for it. "Port customers like Horizon Lines, TOTE and Flint Hills spent countless hours working to make sure the Port and its facilities were ready to meet the July 1 deadline for having these new procedures in place," said Sheffield. "We are indebted to Steve Saunders of Inlet Petroleum and his committee for getting this accomplished."
Mayor Mark Begich also praised the shipping community for its willingness to partner with the Port on meeting the federal requirements. "It was Port stakeholders that put the plan together calling for an additional tariff to pay for these costs - even when they knew it would increase their cost of doing business. That shows dedication to the community they serve," said Begich.
The proposed tariff has already been approved by the Anchorage Port Commission and will be introduced to the Assembly Tuesday. A public hearing on the proposal is expected on June 22. The Assembly will also be asked to approve a contract with Doyon Universal Services to provide the new security services.
Effective on November 1, 2004 there will be a change in the route to be used by delivering truckers to reach either American Fast Freight (AFF) or the TOTE pier, both of which are located on Alexander Avenue in the Port of Tacoma. On or shortly after this date, a large section of Alexander Avenue will be permanently closed between Highway 509 and Lincoln Avenue.
Prior to this road closure, one of the main routes from areas south of the Port of Tacoma on Interstate 5 (via Interstate 705) and Pacific Highway (99) or Highway 509 was to turn left onto Alexander Avenue and follow it to the terminals. This route did not require any additional turns to access both AFF and TOTE terminals.
After the road closure, all this traffic will have to turn onto 54th Avenue East (from Pacific Highway) or onto Taylor Way from Highway 509. Continue on Taylor Way to either Lincoln Avenue or E 11TH Street. A left turn can be made on either street, then an immediate right turn onto the open section of Alexander Avenue.
This change will have no effect on traffic driving south on Interstate 5 taking Exit 137 or coming south on Pacific Highway (99) or Highway 509. The only change in the route taken will be for traffic going to the TOTE and AFF terminals that previously used Alexander Avenue coming from the south of the Port of Tacoma on these main highways.
Hawaiian Ocean Transport (HOT) announced recently that after three years of rapid growth, they have outgrown their receiving terminal in Hayward. They will move to a larger facility located in San Leandro and will start receiving cargo at that new facility on Monday, April 11, 2005.The new location is 2968 Alvarado Street, Suite A, San Leandro, California 94577. The new phone number will be (510) 352-8066 and the new fax number will be (510) 352-8077.
