How rail storage differs
- Different biller. The FMC billing rule (46 CFR part 541) covers invoices from ocean common carriers, marine terminal operators and non-vessel-operating common carriers (541.2). A railroad’s intermodal storage is billed under the railroad’s own rules. A railroad can count as a marine terminal operator when it performs port terminal services not covered by its line-haul rates (46 CFR 525.1(c)(13)); ask the issuer which applies.
- Different clock. Each railroad starts free time when the equipment is available and the notify party is told, not at vessel discharge (details on each railroad’s page).
- Different name. The three railroads below call the charge storage. None of the pages we read uses “per diem” for it.
- Carload demurrage is another thing. BNSF’s demurrage book applies to rail cars, not containers.
The three railroads
Not in our calculator yet
The last free day calculator covers ocean carriers’ published US tariffs only. It does not compute rail storage. Compare a rail storage invoice with the railroad’s own document, and ask for the notification date. For the ocean side see demurrage vs detention , who pays and the port pages: Los Angeles and Long Beach , New York and New Jersey , Houston , Savannah .
In this section
BNSF intermodal storage
Where BNSF publishes its intermodal storage rules, how its page says free time and storage charges work, and how that differs from ocean …
Norfolk Southern intermodal storage
Where Norfolk Southern publishes its intermodal free time and storage rules, what its Rules Circular covers, and how it differs from ocean …
Union Pacific intermodal storage
Where Union Pacific publishes its intermodal storage policy, how free time starts and what its page says about closed terminals. No numbers; …
Sources
- BNSF: Demurrage and Storage
- Union Pacific: Intermodal Storage Policy
- Norfolk Southern: Rules, Terms, Conditions and Tariffs
- 46 CFR 541.2 and 525.1 (eCFR)
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