WASHINGTON—Giti Tire USA Ltd. has filed a complaint with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) seeking an investigation into violations of the Shipping Act of 1984 by Flexport International L.L.C.
Giti alleges that throughout 2022-23, shipping company Flexport issued hundreds of invoices to Giti with detention and demurrage charges that were invoiced improperly.
"Flexport's practices and invoices wrongfully and unreasonably required Giti to pay millions of dollars in unreasonable demurrage and detention charges, as well as millions of dollars of other accessorial charges at unreasonable rates," the complaint, filed May 20, stated.
Giti asserts it has incurred over $12.7 million in damages.
Flexport shipped a large amount of tires for Giti, mostly to ports in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Calif., and Savannah, Ga.
The complaint alleges several violations of the shipping act, most notably that many invoices lacked required information.
The complaint also notes hundreds of invoices containing detention and demurrage charges for days on which the relevant port was closed, including holidays and weekend days.
"Such charges did not incentivize the movement of containers or function to promote cargo fluidity," it stated.
In multiple instances, Giti said Flexport issued invoices that already had been invoiced to other parties, such as motor carriers.
Giti also claims that many accessorial charges invoiced by Flexport were "four to five times" the going rates.
When Giti requested the complete documents, it was given an "OSRA Addendum" that listed several invoices to be updated and was purported by Flexport it would provide the missing data required by the OSRA to be included on invoices for demurrage and detention charges.
Giti said Flexport did not provided complete and updated invoices, so it filed the complaint with the FMC.
Giti seeks a refund and/or elimination of payment obligation for the non-compliant invoices and charges issued. It also seeks reparations for the unlawful conduct, together with interest and Giti's attorney's fees.
The FMC said the initial decision will be issued by May 20, 2025, and the final decision of the FMC shall be issued by Dec. 4, 2025.
