The U.S. military has spent more than $720m since 2001 on container detention fees, according to a USA Today report.

Scott Ross, a spokesman for the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, said his agency has been working to reduce fees paid by the military in recent years from $128m in 2004 to $30m last year.

While the military has incurred charges globally, the vast majority of charges were related to containers supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said. The government may be late in returning the containers because it needs them for storage, protecting forces and other reasons, he said.

The government sets the detention fees for containers, which vary according to locations around the world, but are the same for all carriers, Ross said.

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