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Port Tariff Billing

Port tariff billing that reads each vessel bill off the port tariff, line by line, with length, tons and berth time taken from the ship's papers, the tally and the logs.

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The problem

The agent's reported length sets the dockage bracket for each day at berth

The draft bill is made from the call report the ship's agent filed before arrival: length overall, gross tonnage, cargo to discharge. Those figures are often stale, late or incomplete. A length from an old particulars sheet puts the ship in the wrong dockage bracket for each period alongside, and optional cargo left off the report is wharfage nobody bills.

After departure an analyst should hold the draft against the register entry, the tonnage certificate, the final manifest, the tally and the berth and line logs. At a busy port most drafts go out as made. Items the call triggered are missed, and an item the tariff does not allow gets billed, which hands the operator's auditor a reason to question the whole bill.

Disputes arrive weeks later from the operator's port-cost desk, and the analyst rebuilds the call from four systems to answer them.

Built forPort revenue analystsRevenue managersPort CFOsHarbor master offices

The Problem Today

Vessel bills start from the agent's pre-arrival report, and the ship's own papers rarely get read against them.

$3,531
per day for a 195–210 m ship under one major US port's tariff published
5 years
a terminal schedule is kept, and it binds users as a contract published

Checked by hand after sailing

  • Reports
  • Register
  • Tallies
  • Berth logs
  • A wrong length each periodOne bracket error repeats for each day at berth
  • Disputes rebuilt laterFour systems searched weeks on to answer an auditor

The Solution

  1. The call assembled from its papersBerth time from the logs; length and tons from the ship's documents
  2. Each line read off the tariffItem, unit basis, source and arithmetic on each bill line
  3. The operator's audit, rehearsedA challenger argues the payer's side and strikes the agents' own line
  4. Prepared, then checkedThe analyst prepares; the revenue manager opens each source and sends

Built-in controls

  • A second person on each corrected bill
  • A person reads each note from outside
  • Learned rules wait for the manager's approval

What You Get

The port bills what each call owed under its tariff, and has the page ready before the operator asks.

  • Missed charges surfacedItems the call triggered that the draft left out
  • Rate changes played forwardEach tariff proposal priced over last year's calls
  • Past corrections rememberedA ship's earlier misreport shown at its next call
Features

Port tariff billing features, from the call report to the sent bill

The revenue analyst and the revenue manager use them to check each vessel call before the bill goes, here on a bulk carrier that discharged steel at a breakbulk berth.

demoThe port, its tariff, the ship, the agency and every rate and tonnage on these pages are sample data.

  1. 01Rate card

    Dockage bracket set from the class register, beside the tariff page

    • The tariff item printed beside the call. The analyst sees the bracket table the line is billed from, with the reported and the source length marked on it.
    • Berth time drawn period by period. First line to last line, with the fraction of a day shown, so the count of dockage periods is never argued from memory.
    • Total as drafted and as corrected. The change is visible before anyone prepares the bill, with each replaced figure one click from its page.
  2. 02Bill lines

    Dockage and wharfage lines, reported and source figures side by side

    • Reported figure struck, source figure used. Each line shows what the agent reported and what the register, tally or manifest says, so the correction carries its own evidence.
    • Charges the call triggered but the draft missed. Items such as line handling or storage are checked against the logs and listed as should apply, or as nothing to bill.
    • A ship's earlier calls checked on request. One request to the agents checks this ship's earlier bills, and a paid bill found short goes to the revenue manager and the CFO.
  3. 03Operator's audit

    The ship operator's port-cost audit rehearsed before the bill goes

    • Points argued from the payer's side. Fraction of a day, length bracket, optional cargo and reduced tonnage are each answered from a tariff note and a record before the operator raises them.
    • The agents' own draft attacked. Lines the agents drafted are argued against too, so a charge the tariff does not allow is struck before the operator finds it.
    • Notes from outside handed to a person. Anything the agents cannot settle from a document goes to the analyst by name.
  4. 04Confirm in source

    Length overall confirmed from inside the class register entry

    • Confirmation only from the open page. The analyst confirms a replaced figure after reading the register or tally it comes from, and the opening is logged.
    • The read passage highlighted. The exact field the agents read is marked on the document, so a checker sees the same thing.
    • Register governs over the agent's report. The tariff's note on length is applied as written, so the bill can quote the item and the page together.
  5. 05Agency note

    A ship's agent's free-text note read word for word by the analyst

    • Free text kept out of the figures. A request to look at a charge again changes no line; the analyst reads it as the agency wrote it.
    • Prepare blocked until the note is read. No corrected bill goes forward while a note from outside sits unread.
    • An answer that cites the tally. The reply that travels with the bill points to the tally sheet and the wharfage note, so the agency sees the record.
  6. 06Prepare

    Corrected vessel bill prepared under a reason code, in the analyst's own words

    • Reason codes for each kind of correction. Replaced figure, item triggered but not billed, or wrong rate: the monthly revenue check counts corrections by cause from these.
    • Signature meaning stated. The analyst signs that the bill follows the tariff in force on the service dates and that each replaced figure rests on its source.
  7. 07Outside requests

    Requests to ships' agents and line handlers answered in fixed fields

    • Fields asked of agencies and contractors. Tons by bill of lading, first and last line, length overall with the register page: answers that compare without reading an email.
    • A late answer holds only its own call. A container call waiting on its discharge list is flagged past due while the rest of the queue moves.
    • A differing answer clears the signatures. If the agency confirms a length other than the register's, the bill returns to the analyst, who decides after opening both pages.
  8. 08Check

    Revenue manager opens each replaced figure's source before signing

    • Each source opened one by one. Approve stays locked until the checker has opened the register entry, the tally or manifest and the note.
    • Only corrected bills reach the checker. Bills whose lines all match their sources go out on the analyst's signature, so the manager's queue holds only changes.
    • Send back or reopen with a reason. A checker who disagrees returns the bill to the analyst, and reopening clears both signatures.
  9. 09Sent

    Corrected bill sent to the agency with the register, tally and tariff items

    • Source pack attached to the bill. The register entry, final manifest, tally, line-handling log and tariff items go with it, so a dispute starts from the evidence.
    • Analyst prepares, manager sends. The analyst prepares and the revenue manager checks and sends, so each corrected bill carries two names.

Who works a vessel bill at the port authority

Revenue prepares and checks, finance approves what moves money after the fact, and the harbor master's office owns the berth record.

Port revenue analysts

Check each vessel call, prepare corrected bills and answer operators' disputes

  • Each bill line tied to its tariff item
  • Reported and source figures side by side
  • A ship's past misreports remembered
Revenue managers

Check and send corrected bills, sign dispute answers and approve learned rules

  • Only corrected bills in the checking queue
  • Each replaced figure's page to open
  • Rules proposed from the analyst's rulings
Port CFOs

Read the monthly revenue check and approve credits, tariff proposals and settings

  • Corrections counted by cause each month
  • Tariff proposals played forward over last year
  • Credits approved with the evidence opened
Harbor master offices

Keep the berth records that dockage is billed from

  • Records billing is waiting on, flagged
  • Logs that disagree shown together
  • First and last line read from their log

A bracket, a bill of lading, a line-handling charge and an earlier bill

Four findings on one bulk carrier call that a draft made from the call report would have sent as it was.

Billed at 189.9 m, registered at 199.90 m

The class register puts the ship in the next dockage bracket: three periods at $3,780.00 instead of $3,410.00, up $1,110.00.

Plate left off the report crossed the wharf

A bill of lading marked optional cargo, 460 short tons, crossed on the day shift by the port's tally. Wharfage on 18,420 short tons, up $1,311.00.

Our own line-handling charge struck

The berth log said a line crew of four with no company named. The contractor's own log names its crews on both operations, so the $2,900.00 line was withdrawn.

The same misreport on an earlier call

The agency reported 189.9 m for this ship before. An earlier call was under-billed $1,110.00, and rebilling a paid bill is for the revenue manager and the CFO.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

More screens

The tariff review, the disputes desk and the month's revenue check

Where the same revenue office spends the rest of its week.

Before the checkThe draft as the call report made it, 189.9 m and one dockage rate, with nothing checked yet and two business days left to bill.
Vessel calls to bill52 calls that left the port in nine days, each due four business days after departure, filtered by what still needs checking.
Disputes from operatorsA port-cost desk disputes three dockage periods; the line-handling and berth logs answer it, and the draft waits for the analyst.
Tariff proposals, pricedFour proposed changes played over last year's 2,140 calls, such as a steel wharfage rate and a half-period rule for dockage, assumptions editable.
The month, for the CFO37 bills were corrected before going out in the month, net $61,284.50, sorted by cause, with approvals waiting for the CFO beside them.
Rules from rulingsA rule on agency lengths that differ from the register, proposed from the analyst's corrections, waits for the revenue manager.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Eight agents read the call, and none of them sends, credits or rebills

Six read the call in order; two more handle outside requests and the tariff review.

Call agent

Builds the call from the berth log, the line log and the call report, and counts dockage periods.

  • Edits no berth record
Particulars agent

Reads the class register entry and the tonnage certificate, compares them with the report, and asks the agency to confirm.

  • Bills no length the register contradicts
Cargo agent

Reads the final manifest and the port's tally by bill of lading.

  • Turns no free text into a figure
Tariff agent

Applies each item to the call, shows the arithmetic, and lists items triggered but not billed.

  • Uses only the tariff version in force on the service dates
Operator's audit

Plays the operator's port-cost audit against the draft, the agents' own lines included.

  • Calls no party dishonest
Requests agent

Sends fixed-field requests to ships' agents and contractors and reads the replies.

  • Keeps free text out of the call
  • Sends under a standing approval or a person
Bill agent

Drafts the corrected bill and its source pack.

  • Never sends a bill
Tariff review agent

Plays proposed tariff changes forward over last year's calls.

  • Recommends no rate

What port revenue teams ask about port tariff billing

What is a port tariff?

A port tariff is the published schedule of rates and rules a port authority or terminal operator bills vessels and cargo by: dockage, wharfage, harbor services, and items such as line handling and storage. Here each vessel bill is read off that schedule line by line, with each figure taken from its source.

How do dockage and wharfage differ on a vessel bill?

Dockage is charged to the vessel for its time at the berth, by length overall, for each day or part of a day from first line to last line. Wharfage is charged per ton on cargo that crosses the wharf, by the port's tally. In this tariff, harbor services are charged per gross ton.

Which length is billed when the agent's report and the register disagree?

The class register entry, or a particulars sheet signed by the master, governs over an agent's report under the tariff's dockage note. The analyst confirms the register figure from inside the page, and the agency is asked to confirm in fixed fields.

Does it replace our port billing system?

No. It works beside the billing module: it reads the draft, the terminal and berth records and the ship's documents, and the revenue manager sends the corrected bill with its sources attached.

Who signs a corrected bill?

The revenue analyst prepares it with a reason code, and the revenue manager opens each replaced figure's source before checking and sending. Credits, the delinquent list, settings and tariff proposals need the revenue manager and the CFO.

How are operator disputes answered?

From the tariff and the port's records, such as the line-handling log, the berth log and the tally. The agents draft the answer with its sources, the analyst marks it ready, the revenue manager signs it, and any credit also needs the CFO.

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Bring a vessel bill
an operator disputed.

Send us a disputed call with its papers, and we read it off your own tariff with you, line by line.

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