Per diem charges are a concern for BCOs and shippers. Circumstances beyond their control such as weather, world events, marine and rail terminal congestion, and labor shortages can affect the journey of their shipping containers and result in per diem charges.

Shipping lines and cargo owners use shipping containers daily to import goods from abroad. Once the containers outgate at port, there is a set contracted period before the empty container must be returned to a depot, rail terminal, or other location. If shipping containers are returned late, they are assessed per diem for each day past the free period, which can amount to hundreds of dollars daily.

The good news is that cargo owners can easily forgo such fees with proper per diem management.

Why Per Diem Management?

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) reports that per diem charges in shipping amount to billions of dollars annually. Per diem management helps you plan and execute your container arrivals and returns to eliminate or reduce per diem charges.

Shipping container per diem charges vary, depending on equipment, location, and days past the contracted period. Fees are assessed daily until the container is returned to the equipment owner.

If you are a shipper or freight owner experiencing rising per diem charges for ocean shipping containers, a dedicated per diem management program can help you control costs and improve your bottom line.

With AV Logistics, you have a partner monitoring your containers and doing everything possible to help your company escape per diem.

Identify At-Risk Containers with Impending Per Diem

The first step to avoiding per diem is knowing which shipping containers are approaching the end of their free period. We use Coreviz, our proprietary real-time supply chain visibility platform, to calculate the most complex contracts and monitor the last free day of your containers, from loaded outgate to empty return.

Coreviz gives you around-the-clock access to the status of your containers with the opportunity to set watchlists and alerts for shipping containers at risk of per diem.

Create a Plan to Expedite Container Return

Returning shipping containers on time honors the contracted agreement and enables the owner to keep the equipment in circulation. AV Logistics will analyze options and provide a plan to return your containers before they begin accruing per diem.

Execute an Economical Solution

We have a nationwide network of more than 350 partner carriers to assist in providing timely drayage of your empty containers to the port, rail yard, or depot. We expedite the movement of your containers to their destinations as an acceptable alternative to paying excessive per diem charges.

Sometimes, per diem is unavoidable because of circumstances beyond your control, such as port congestion, world events, or severe weather. Invoices for per diem charges are then presented to the drayage company to reconcile. However, the drayage company is almost never privy to the contract terms and therefore cannot verify the accuracy of all information on the invoice, from the date of pick up and time, contracted free period, days past, etc., before paying.

AV Logistics follows a specific process to ensure you are paying a minimum of per
diem charges.

Automate Per Diem Reconciliation

AV Logistics helps you quickly and simply reconcile your per diem charges with our support, reporting, and per diem reconciliation tool within Coreviz.

The per diem reconciliation tool enables quick, easy upload and submission of invoices and acts as a central clearinghouse for them.

Discover Per Diem Inaccuracies

The AV Logistics per diem reconciliation tool verifies the information on the invoices.
AV Logistics disputes inaccuracies to save clients money.

Process Payments Faster

The per diem reconciliation process at AV Logistics automates remittance of payment, making reconciliation as easy as possible. Access to the status of invoices is available 24/7 in Coreviz.