Detention
Detention is compensation paid to a carrier when a driver is held at a shipper or receiver beyond the agreed free time, usually billed hourly after the first two hours.
Last reviewed · by the Fleetchart team
Free time and the hourly rate after it should be stated on the rate confirmation. Where they are not, collecting is difficult.
Detention is genuinely costly beyond the direct hours: waiting consumes hours of service, and hours spent at a dock are hours unavailable for the next load. A long wait can push a delivery past an appointment and cost a second load.
Documentation decides whether it gets paid. Arrival and departure times recorded on the BOL or through an ELD, plus prompt notice to the broker, are what turn a claim into a payment.
The cost is bigger than one load. A 2018 report by the U.S. DOT Office of Inspector General estimated that detention cuts the yearly earnings of truckload drivers by $1.1 to $1.3 billion in total. It also found that each extra 15 minutes a truck sits at a facility raises the expected crash rate by 6.2%.
Check the rate con for three things before you book: how many free hours you get, the hourly rate after that, and how you must notify the broker. If the rate con says you must tell the broker by a set time, do it then, not after the load is done. Miss a written step and a valid claim can be refused.
Keep the claim simple and fast. Send the times, the rate con terms and the math with the invoice, not weeks later.
Worked example
Five hours at the dock
The rate con gives 2 hours free, then $50 an hour. The driver checks in at 8:00 for an 8:00 appointment and leaves at 13:15.
- Time on site: 8:00 to 13:15 = 5 hours 15 minutes.
- Minus free time: 5.25 − 2 = 3.25 billable hours.
- Detention: 3.25 × $50 = $162.50. If the rate con bills in whole hours only, it is 3 × $50 = $150.
The claim is $162.50 (or $150 in whole hours), backed by check-in and check-out times. Without those times on paper or from the ELD, it is usually $0. Fleetchart spots detention from Motive GPS dwell time and suggests it on the load for you to accept or dismiss.
Sources
- U.S. DOT Office of Inspector General, Estimates Show Commercial Driver Detention Increases Crash Risks and Costs (ST2018019, January 31, 2018) · Free time in shipping contracts is often 2 hours; a 15-minute increase in average dwell time raises the expected crash rate by 6.2%; detention cuts truckload drivers' annual earnings by $1.1 to $1.3 billion. (checked )