How the Ocean Shipping Reform Act Changed US Container Shipping — and What Came After

In 2021 and 2022, as ocean freight rates reached historic highs and American exporters faced mounting demurrage and detention charges, the Biden administration pushed for regulatory reform in the shipping container industry. The result was the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA 2022), signed into law in June 2022 — the most significant update to US maritime shipping regulation since the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998.

Four years later, with a new administration in office and freight markets that have partially normalized from their 2021–2022 peaks, it's worth assessing what OSRA 2022 actually accomplished, where the shipping container market stands, and what the ongoing regulatory landscape means for US businesses that use containers.

What Was Driving the Push for Reform

The 2021–2022 shipping crisis created unusual political alignment around container shipping reform. Container spot rates on the Shanghai–Los Angeles route reached over $9,600 per FEU at peak — more than triple 2019 rates. American agricultural exporters faced a specific and well-documented problem: ocean carriers were refusing to carry US exports because the return repositioning of empty containers to Asia was more profitable than taking the time to load US agricultural commodities for export.

Simultaneously, demurrage and detention charges — fees charged to importers and exporters for containers held beyond free-time windows — had escalated dramatically. These fees, originally designed to incentivize efficient terminal operations, had in many cases become revenue sources for carriers that bore no relationship to actual operational costs or incentive purposes.

The Federal Maritime Commission, the US agency responsible for regulating ocean shipping, had limited enforcement tools under the existing regulatory framework dating to 1998. OSRA 2022 was designed to address these specific problems.

What OSRA 2022 Actually Changed

The key provisions of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 and their practical effects:

Demurrage and Detention Reform

OSRA 2022 required the FMC to establish rules on demurrage and detention billing practices, including requiring that charges be "reasonable" and connected to actual operational purposes rather than being used as profit centers. The FMC issued a final rule on demurrage and detention in 2024 that established billing dispute processes and prohibited carriers from charging fees for periods when containers were not actually accessible to shippers — a significant protection for importers who faced charges during port congestion when they literally couldn't retrieve their containers.

Export Cargo Requirements

The act prohibited ocean carriers from unreasonably refusing to carry cargo from US exporters when space was available. This addressed the documented pattern of carriers preferring to reposition empty containers to Asia rather than load US agricultural exports. Enforcement has been mixed — the FMC has investigated specific complaints but the systemic issue of carrier incentives favoring empty container repositioning over US exports remains a structural challenge.

FMC Investigative Authority

OSRA 2022 gave the FMC new tools to investigate and penalize unfair carrier practices, expanded the agency's authority to scrutinize service contracts, and established a new shipper complaint process. The FMC used this authority in 2022 and 2023 to pursue several investigations into carrier demurrage practices and service reliability issues.

Ocean Carrier Alliance Oversight

The act directed increased scrutiny of the three major carrier alliances — 2M (Maersk/MSC), Ocean Alliance (CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen), and THE Alliance (Hapag-Lloyd, ONE, Yang Ming, HMM) — that collectively control the majority of global container capacity. However, the antitrust exemption under the Shipping Act that allows these alliances to coordinate on vessel sharing and scheduling was preserved, limiting the scope of competition reform that could be achieved through OSRA alone.

What OSRA 2022 Didn't Fix

Honest assessment requires acknowledging what the legislation couldn't accomplish:

Freight rates. OSRA 2022 didn't reduce freight rates. Rates remained elevated through 2022 and began declining through 2023 as global demand normalized — a market correction driven by economics, not regulation. The 2024 Red Sea disruption pushed rates back up, demonstrating that geopolitical events affecting trade routes have more immediate impact on freight costs than domestic regulatory changes.

Carrier alliance market power. The three major alliances still control the majority of global container capacity. The antitrust exemption that allows alliance coordination was not eliminated. Market concentration in container shipping remains a structural feature of the industry.

Port infrastructure and labor. Port congestion and labor availability — two of the key operational drivers of the 2021–2022 crisis — are outside the FMC's jurisdiction. Terminal automation debates, longshore labor contracts, and port infrastructure investment are addressed through separate processes involving the ILWU, ILA, and federal transportation agencies.

The Current Regulatory Environment Under the New Administration

The Trump administration that took office in January 2025 has approached maritime regulation with different priorities than its predecessor. The focus has shifted toward tariff policy — specifically the substantial tariff increases on Chinese-manufactured goods that took effect in 2025 — rather than carrier regulation. These tariffs have created their own container market effects: front-loading surges as importers rushed goods ahead of tariff effective dates, followed by demand hangovers as inventory levels normalized.

The FMC's OSRA-based authority remains in effect regardless of administration — the legislation is law, and the rules promulgated under it (including the demurrage and detention final rule) remain operative. What varies by administration is enforcement priority and the appetite for additional regulatory action.

What This Means for US Container Buyers

For businesses buying containers for domestic storage and commercial use, the regulatory landscape translates into a few practical points:

• Demurrage and detention charges are now regulated if you're an importer or exporter dealing with ocean freight. If you're assessed charges during periods when you genuinely couldn't access your containers due to port conditions, the FMC's new rules provide a dispute mechanism.
• Freight rates remain market-driven and will continue to be affected by geopolitical disruptions, trade policy changes, and demand cycles more than by domestic regulation.
• The domestic used container market follows the freight cycle: when ocean freight demand is high (as during tariff front-loading or route disruptions), fewer containers retire into the domestic resale market and US depot inventory tightens. Understanding this connection helps buyers time purchases more favorably. The global disruption buyer impact guide covers the mechanism in detail.
• Tariff policy creates the most immediate and predictable domestic market effects — the front-load/hangover cycle from tariff announcements is now a recurring feature of the market that informed buyers can use to their advantage.

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