A Docket shipment flagged critical: demurrage in 7 days, EPR registration missing and a fumigation stamp query, above the invoice, route, free-time and CHA details. — A container against its clock — free time ends 14 Jul, two documents unresolved.

Wharfage: the charge for crossing the wharf

Wharfage is what a port charges for merchandise passing onto, over, through or under its wharf. It is billed once per crossing, not per day, which is what separates it from storage and from demurrage. Two things on it catch an import desk: the rate that applies is the one in force on the day the vessel starts discharging, and if nobody supplies a measurement the port constructs one.

Wharfage: A port's charge against merchandise for the passage of that merchandise onto, over, through or under its wharves. It is solely a charge for use of the wharf, assessed once per crossing on weight or measurement, and is separate from storage, from demurrage and from any handling service.

Wharfage on one container when no measurement is supplied Port of Los Angeles Item 550-030, by the container's overall length, against the same box empty under Item 550-031. One charge for the crossing, whatever happens afterwards. Source: Port of Los Angeles Tariff No. 4, Items 550-030 and 550-031, effective 16 April 2026 — where containerised cargo is manifested and assessed freight per container, wharfage is assessed on weight or measurement whichever yields the greater revenue; where measurement is not available the charge is by overall container length, 0–7 m $233.35, over 7–9 m $286.62, over 9–13 m $469.23, over 13 m $603.67, overflow cargo in multiple containers excluded. Empty vans and containers: $11.26, $13.56, $22.63 and $29.14 on the same bands.

Wharfage is the oldest charge on a terminal invoice and the one an import desk queries least, because it is small, it is fixed, and it arrives bundled. It is worth two minutes anyway, for a reason that has nothing to do with its size: the basis wharfage is measured on is the basis your demurrage line is measured on too.

What the charge is for

A port’s tariff defines wharfage as the charge against merchandise for the passage of that merchandise onto, over, through or under the wharf. The Port of Los Angeles then draws the boundary in one sentence, and it is the sentence to remember: wharfage “is solely the charge for use of wharves or wharf premises and does not include charges for any other service or facility.”

So wharfage buys the crossing and nothing else. Not the lift. Not the move to the yard. Not the ground the box then stands on, which is the terminal storage charge. Not the days it stands there past free time, which is wharf demurrage. A container cleared on its first free day pays wharfage once. A container that sits for a month pays wharfage once and demurrage thirty times.

Three things on it a desk can act on

The rate is fixed by the discharge date, not by the invoice date. On inbound merchandise the applicable rate is the one in effect on the day the vessel commences discharging. A tariff revision between your booking and your berth lands on your shipment; one after discharge does not. The Los Angeles wharfage rates were last revised effective 16 April 2026, a date worth holding against a lane you quoted in March.

Weight or measurement, and the port picks. Wharfage rates are stated in cents per 1,000 kilograms or per cubic metre. Where the vessel computed freight on one of those bases and manifested it, wharfage follows the manifest. Where the manifest does not say, the port assesses on “weight and measurement, whichever will yield the greater revenue.” That is not a trick; it is written into the tariff. But it does mean the manifest is doing work nobody on the desk reviews.

If no measurement is supplied, one is constructed. Where a measurement is required and not given, Los Angeles constructs it at one cubic metre for every 125 kilograms of cargo. For containerised cargo manifested per container with no measurement available, the charge is by the container’s overall length instead: $233.35 up to 7 metres, $286.62 over 7 to 9, $469.23 over 9 to 13, and $603.67 over 13. The same boxes empty are $11.26, $13.56, $22.63 and $29.14.

Why it matters to the demurrage line

Section Seven of the same tariff sets wharf demurrage “per KT or cubic meter or fraction thereof or other unit, on the same basis as wharfage is assessed.” The measurement that decided a one-off charge of a few hundred dollars then decides a per-day charge that compounds in three bands. A desk that cannot say which basis its wharfage was assessed on cannot check its demurrage invoice either, and a demurrage invoice you cannot check is one you will pay.

That is the argument for keeping the measurement, the manifest basis and the discharge date against the shipment rather than in an inbox — which is what demurrage and detention software is for, and what the Los Angeles tariff is a good illustration of, because every figure above is published and none of it is on your invoice.

See the Los Angeles free time and demurrage bands these rates sit beside.

Questions traders ask

What is wharfage?

A port's charge against merchandise for the passage of that merchandise onto, over, through or under its wharves or wharf premises. The Port of Los Angeles tariff puts the limit plainly: wharfage is solely the charge for use of wharves or wharf premises and does not include charges for any other service or facility. It is billed once for the crossing, not per day.

What is the difference between wharfage and demurrage?

Wharfage is charged once, for crossing the wharf. Demurrage is charged per day, for staying on it after free time runs out. They are two lines on the same terminal invoice and they move independently: a box cleared on day one still pays wharfage, and a box that sits for a month pays wharfage once and demurrage thirty times.

How is wharfage calculated?

On weight or on measurement. The Port of Los Angeles tariff states its wharfage rates in cents per 1,000 kilograms or per cubic metre, and where the manifest does not show which basis the freight was computed on, the port assesses whichever of the two yields the greater revenue. For containerised cargo manifested per container with no measurement available, the charge is set by the container's overall length instead.

Who pays wharfage on an import?

It reaches the importer, usually inside a terminal handling charge or a line on the delivery order rather than as a bill from the port. The charge is assessed against the merchandise, so whoever is clearing the merchandise ends up carrying it.

Related terms

Terminal storage charge — The charge a marine terminal operator levies for an import container occupying terminal ground beyond its free dwell time, set out in the terminal's published scale of rates and identical for every importer at that terminal, as distinct from the carrier's demurrage.
Demurrage — The charge a carrier or terminal levies when a container remains inside the port past its allotted free time, accruing daily per container until the box is collected.
Demurrage Invoice — The invoice a terminal or ocean carrier issues for the days a container remained inside the port beyond its free time, stating the container and bill of lading references, the free-time period, the daily rate applied and the number of days charged.
Free time — The grace period allowed before demurrage or detention begins to accrue, measured in calendar days from discharge and set by the carrier's tariff or by the importer's service contract.
Billed party — The person who receives a demurrage or detention invoice and is responsible for paying the charge on it. In US trade the invoice must state the basis for why that person is the proper party of interest and thus liable.
Gate-out — The release of a laden import container through the terminal gate, recorded on the equipment interchange receipt. It ends the container's occupation of terminal space, stopping demurrage, and begins the importer's use of the carrier's box, starting detention.