A complaint has been filed with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) against Sinotrans Container Lines and Sinotrans Shipping Agency, alleging violations of fairness provisions under Shipping Act section 10.Transport Express and the Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference (IMCC) are seeking relief for process abuses and financial harm caused by a Sinotrans, alleging that the termination of the IMCC member’s interchange rights under the Uniform Intermodal Interchange & Facilities Access Agreement (UIIA) was in retaliation for the motor carrier’s assertion of its rights under the agreement.
The complainant argues that the termination actions under the UIIA are in violation of Shipping Act sections 10(b) (10), which prohibits an ocean common carrier from unreasonably refusing to deal or negotiate, and 10(d)(1), which requires ocean common carriers to observe just and reasonable regulations and practices relating to the transportation of intermodal containers.
Because the UIIA process has no effective enforcement mechanism, the FMC has been asked to apply the Shipping Act standards concerning fair dealings and practices contained in the abovementioned sections.