Federal Maritime Commission: Improved Use of Data on Shippers' Complaints Could Enhance Oversight
Fast Facts
During COVID-19, high demand for cargo space disrupted the maritime shipping industry. Some companies that ship hazardous items raised concerns that ship operators prioritized consumer goods over their cargo, which is often less valuable.
The Federal Maritime Commission investigates complaints about shipping practices. We found:
Hazmat companies rarely filed complaints, partially due to not understanding the complaint process
FMC doesn't collect specific data on its complaint forms—e.g., if cargo is hazardous—that would help it identify industry trends
We recommended that FMC improve its outreach and data collection for its complaint process.
Highlights
What GAO Found
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the maritime shipping industry, causing congested ports, high demand for cargo space on ships, and volatile shipping rates. Selected shippers of hazardous materials (hazmat), which include chemicals and other types of cargo critical to the U.S. economy, told GAO they were particularly affected during the peak of the pandemic (2020 through 2022). All six hazmat shippers GAO interviewed said they had difficulty securing space on ships, and five said they experienced long delays. Shippers attributed these challenges to safety risks and additional requirements associated with hazmat, which made it less desirable for carriers to accommodate on their ships.
GAO found that while hazmat imports and exports increased from 2018 through 2020, hazmat imports stagnated and exports decreased from 2020 through 2022. Hazmat imports increased almost 32 percent from 2018 through 2020, but grew less than 1 percent afterward. Hazmat exports increased 19 percent from 2018 through 2020 and declined by 7 percent afterward. Conversely, non-hazmat imports and exports grew at a higher rate during the pandemic, which carriers attributed to non-hazmat shippers paying higher shipping rates.
Hazardous Materials Imports and Exports Transported on Cargo Ships in Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units, 2018–2022
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is responsible for ensuring a competitive and reliable ocean transportation system for all U.S. shippers. Its oversight efforts include receiving complaints from shippers about carriers. FMC can use this information to respond to shippers' concerns and initiate investigations of carriers. However, GAO found several shortcomings in how FMC collects, manages, and uses complaint data: (1) FMC does not consistently capture certain details—such as type of cargo, whether cargo is hazmat, and incident location—which limits FMC's ability to analyze complaint trends; and (2) key FMC procedures for managing the data are out of date and incomplete. GAO also found that while FMC plans to modernize how it collects, manages, and uses information from complaints, it lacks a strategy to guide these efforts. Such a strategy could include key information on planned updates, such as goals, required investments, and expected outcomes. Taking steps to address these shortcomings and developing a data strategy could help FMC more effectively use data to oversee the maritime shipping industry.
Why GAO Did This Study
The maritime shipping industry is vital to the global economy and accounted for $2.3 trillion in U.S. trade in 2022. FMC is responsible for overseeing this industry, including protecting U.S. shippers from unfair or unjustly discriminatory practices related to securing vessel space.
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 includes a provision for GAO to examine whether carriers disadvantaged shippers of hazmat during the pandemic through the systemic and unreasonable denial of vessel space or other means. This report examines, among other things: (1) shippers' experiences transporting hazmat during the pandemic; (2) how the amount of hazmat imports and exports changed from 2018 through 2022 (the most recent data available at the time of GAO's review); and (3) actions FMC has taken to collect, manage, and use its complaint data.
For these objectives, GAO reviewed pertinent FMC regulations and policies; analyzed trade data; visited two ports; and interviewed FMC officials as well as representatives of six shippers and five carriers. GAO selected these shippers and carriers based on a review of recent FMC rulemakings and on stakeholders' recommendations.
Recommendations
GAO is making four recommendations to FMC, including that it review the information it collects on certain complaints, update its procedures for managing complaint data, and develop a data strategy to guide future efforts. FMC neither agreed nor disagreed with GAO's recommendations, but identified actions it plans to take. GAO stands by its recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Maritime Commission | The Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission should develop an outreach plan for communicating information about FMC's various complaint processes to shippers. Such a plan should align with leading practices for effective outreach. (Recommendation 1) |
In 2025, FMC provided GAO with its Strategic Plan for 2022 through 2026, in which FMC outlined the steps that the Commission is undertaking to meet its strategic objective to enhance public awareness of FMC resources, remedies, and regulatory requirements. Those steps include educating regulated entities and the shipping public about services available through FMC's Consumer Affairs and Dispute Resolution Services (CADRS), leveraging FMC's website to educate the public on events affecting the shipping industry, expanding outreach through online offerings (e.g., webinars and social media), and partnerships with external stakeholders. FMC's actions align with GAO's leading practices for defining the program's goals and developing performance measures to help ensure information provided is timely. FMC also provided information on actions taken to implement the plan, including establishing a Complaints and Assistance Center section of its website which lists each of the assistance types offered by FMC and contact information for each so shippers can discern the appropriate avenue for filing complaints and disputes with FMC. FMC also provided a summary of more than a dozen industry advisories and news alerts it published in 2024 and 2025 including an alert on FMC services available to shippers during supply chain challenges. Finally, FMC CADRS staff and an FMC Commissioner presented at several industry events in 2024 and 2025, providing additional opportunities to communicate FMC's complaint procedures to the shipping public. As a result of these actions, FMC has taken steps to increase shippers' awareness of FMC's complaint mechanisms.
|
| Federal Maritime Commission | The Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission should review the CADRS complaint form to ensure it is collecting specific information on shippers' challenges. (Recommendation 2) |
As of May 2025, FMC has not taken action to address this recommendation. FMC officials told GAO that The CADRS program office is continuously monitoring complaint activity, including activity by type, and will modify the CADRS complaint form to improve customer accessibility, as necessary. However, FMC has not provided information on any efforts to review the CADRS cargo complaint form to ensure it is collecting specific information on shippers' challenges, as GAO recommended. Instead, FMC provided information on CADRS efforts to review and revise a different CADRS complaint form for cruise-related disputes. This review was completed in August 2023, prior to GAO's work on this report. In this instance, FMC removed extraneous information on the cruise complaint form and provided GAO with information on the process it used to review this form. FMC's review of the cruise complaint form demonstrates that FMC has a process that it could use to review the CADRS cargo complaint form to address GAO's recommendation. To address this recommendation, FMC will need to demonstrate that it has reviewed this form to ensure that it is collecting the necessary information to respond to shippers' challenges. GAO will continue to monitor FMC's progress in addressing this recommendation.
|
| Federal Maritime Commission | The Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission should update the procedures for FMC's CADRS and BEIC offices to ensure they include all actions staff can take in response to shippers' concerns, such as analyzing complaint data, and establish requirements for future reviews and updates. (Recommendation 3) |
As of May 2025, FMC has not addressed this recommendation. FMC provided additional information to GAO on the procedures FMC uses to direct requests for assistance from the public to the appropriate office within FMC, such as to CADRS or the BEIC. While these procedures help ensure that the appropriate office receives the requests, they do not demonstrate that FMC has updated CADRS and BEIC procedures with actions staff can take to respond to requests, such as analyzing complaint data, and establishing requirements for future reviews and updates, as GAO recommended. To address this recommendation, FMC will need to demonstrate that it has reviewed and updated, as necessary, the CADRS and BEIC procedures, and establish a process to regularly review these procedures moving forward to ensure they remain current. GAO will continue to monitor FMC's progress in addressing this recommendation.
|
| Federal Maritime Commission | The Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission should develop a strategy to guide FMC's efforts to modernize how it collects and manages data such that FMC can better monitor shippers' challenges and trends in the maritime shipping industry. (Recommendation 4) |
As of May 2025, FMC has partially addressed this recommendation. Specifically, FMC provided GAO with a table of actions it intends to take to modernize certain IT systems, along with a "request for quote" that FMC used to solicit cost proposals from companies to develop these IT systems. This information demonstrates that FMC is taking action to modernize how it collects and manages data to perform its mission. However, GAO will need additional clarification from FMC on the specific actions that FMC intends to take to determine whether they will help FMC better monitor shippers' challenges and trends in the maritime shipping industry, as GAO recommended. GAO will continue to monitor FMC's progress in addressing this recommendation.
|