Nowadays, inflation in the United States has been very serious. President Biden attributed this situation to the phenomenon of arbitrary charges by shipping companies. He called on Congress to pass legislation to reduce transportation costs.

(Related reading: US President Biden blasted inflation on shipping companies and called on them to reduce freight rates)

Recently, the US House of Representatives passed the maritime transport reform act 2022 (OSRA) by 369 votes to 42, which is the Senate version of the reform bill on last December.

The legislation expands the powers of the Federal Maritime Commission to address unfair business practices of maritime carriers and maritime terminal operators, and is supported by a wide range of associations.

These include the national industrial transport alliance, the agricultural transport alliance, the American Association port authority, the American Freight Association and the port freight Association.

Chris spear, President and CEO of ATA, said that FMC would now be able to solve the "unreasonable fees" charged by sea carriers to truck drivers.

"These expenses brought us $150billion in profits to shipping companies last year alone. These expenses have brought huge costs to US car operators and consumers."

NRF believes that the legislation has the potential to solve the problems of port congestion and inflation.

"By providing the FMC with the additional powers required, the development of OSRA federal laws will help address supply chain and port disruptions that existed before the outbreak," said David French, senior vice president of government relations at NRF, in a statement.

This legislation updates the Shipping Act 1984, as amended in 1998. The 40 page Senate bill passed on Monday was an increase from the original 17 pages proposed in February, after additional provisions were added to the Senate price increase in March.

Nevertheless, the carrier believes that this legislation is not as cumbersome as the house OSRA bill, which will give FMC the power to require the carrier to manage its import and export container capacity.

On the other hand, the Senate bill is less restrictive because it provides FMC with greater flexibility to consider carrier issues.

The legislation increases the funding level of FMC from $32.9 million in 2022 to $49.2 million in 2025 - an increase of 50% in four years - to help the agency increase a large number of personnel.

The world shipping Council, representing the world's largest container shipping company, said in a statement that it looked forward to working with FMC to help implement the provisions of OSRA.