Officials at Young Brothers Ltd. announced last week they had instituted a 5.5-percent rate increase approved by members of the state Pub-Commission (PUC). The rate increase went into effect last week, also, according to company public information officer Michelle Azuma
Officials at Young Brothers Ltd. announced last week they had instituted a 5.5-percent rate increase approved by members of the state Pub-Commission (PUC).
The rate increase went into effect last week, also, according to company public information officer Michelle Azuma Lee. Company leaders had sought the rate increase from PUC members in June.
Young Brothers barges makes regularly scheduled stops at Nawiliwili Harbor twice a week.
According to the company’s Web site, the rate increase will help to offset significant increases in fuel, security and labor costs, and support Young Brothers reinvestment efforts in its shoreside and marine equipment.
Meantime, it was business as usual down at Nawiliwili Tuesday morning. Young Brothers Nawiliwili Port Manager Wendell Kam said barges were coming in, and were loaded with lumber and other building materials, amongst the usual shipments of vehicles and other goods.
“There’s quite a bit of construction material coming in for all the projects,” Kam said.
Doug Robinson, general manager for Aloha Lumber Company, said his company’s leaders based their orders upon the volume of the previous 12 months. He said that, using that as a criteria, the orders were larger, but he said even given that, this month was actually a bit slower than last month.
According to Young Brothers, news of the approved rate increase was being sent to customers via e-mail and fax. It is also posted on the company’s Web site, under “news.” The tariff on the Web site has been updated to reflect the change in rates, according to the company spokesperson.
Lee said the company has been able to avoid rate increases in the past due to “operational efficiencies achieved through the years.”
Lee said it had been eight years since rates for full-container-load shipments have increased, and three years for non-containerized cargo. Young Brothers leaders ship only within Hawai‘i.
Jeff Low, Young Brothers manager of planning and facilities, said more than the high cost of fuel motivated the need for a rate increase.
“We try to spread costs out over all our operations. It’s not just for fuel costs, but for debt service on our equipment,” he said.
Lee said “costs continued to rise, and Young Brothers had to reinvest its assets in order to continue providing quality transportation service between the Hawaiian Islands.”
Low said she did not know for how long the latest rate increase could be in effect before Young Brothers leaders could seek another rate increase if needed. “We don’t subscribe to regular rate increases.”
Vic Angoco, vice president and general manager for Young Brothers, said economic situations would dictate when or if Young Brothers leaders went before the PUC again for a future rate increase.
The Young Brothers rate increase comes about three months after shipping giant Matson Navigation leaders increased their rates.
According to a Matson company press release from April, because of sustained increases in fuel costs, Matson officials raised their fuel surcharge in their Hawai‘i and Guam/Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) services from 9.2 to 10.5 percent, effective April 18. Matson officials also announced that they were implementing a new program in which fuel costs will be reviewed on a quarterly basis, with the fuel surcharge adjusted accordingly, up or down.
