Why do detention claims get rejected?

Most often for documentation rather than dispute. Rate confirmations typically require signed arrival and departure times, notification to the broker within a set window, and a claim submitted with the paperwork by a deadline. Missing any one of those defeats the claim.

Does detention pay cover what it costs a carrier?

Rarely in full. The 14-hour duty window is consecutive and does not pause while waiting, so hours spent at a dock are subtracted from driving time. The knock-on effect on the following days is often larger than the loss on the day itself.

Detention and Accessorial Pay: What You Are Owed and Why It Goes Unpaid

Detention is not an inconvenience with a small payment attached. It is the destruction of the only thing you sell, which is hours in a 14-hour window.

Why it costs more than the hourly rate suggests

Your 14-hour duty window is consecutive. It does not pause because you are parked at a dock. Four hours at a receiver are four hours of the day you cannot get back, and they are subtracted from driving time, not from waiting time.

So the real cost of detention is the difference between what you were paid for waiting and what you would have earned driving those hours. Detention paid at $40 an hour against a day that would have earned considerably more per hour of driving is not compensation; it is a partial refund.

The knock-on effect is worse than the day itself. A shift that ends four hours late moves your reset, which moves your next pickup, which can cost you the good load you were positioned for. Detention on Tuesday is often paid for on Thursday.

Why it goes unpaid

Almost always documentation, not dispute. Typical rate confirmation terms require:

Documented arrival and departure times, signed or stamped by the facility.
Notification within a window — often you must tell the broker while you are still sitting, not afterwards.
A claim submitted within a set period with the paperwork attached.

Miss any of the three and the claim fails regardless of how long you actually sat. This is why reading the rate confirmation before loading matters more than negotiating the rate.

A routine that gets it paid

Photograph the gate and the clock on arrival. Timestamped photos are evidence.
Get the in time on the bill of lading, signed by the facility.
Message the broker when free time expires, in writing, not by phone. "I have been here since 08:15, free time ends at 10:15, detention starts now."
Get the out time recorded the same way as the in time.
Submit with the invoice, not later.

The written message at the moment free time expires is the single highest-value habit here. It converts an argument about memory into a record.

The accessorials people forget to claim

Accessorial	When it applies
Layover	Held overnight through no fault of yours
TONU	Dispatched to a load that does not happen
Extra stops	Multi-stop loads beyond the first pickup and last delivery
Driver assist or unload	You handle the freight rather than watching it handled
Lumper fees	Reimbursement for paid unloading services — keep the receipt
Pallet exchange	Where pallets are not exchanged and you must supply them
Reconsignment or redelivery	Destination changed, or a second delivery attempt
Detention with power, and without	Different rates often apply when the truck is dropped and left

Most of these require prior approval in writing. An accessorial incurred without approval is usually an accessorial absorbed by you, however unavoidable it was at the time. Ask before you act, even when the answer seems obvious.

How to price it into the load instead

Where a facility is known for holding trucks, the sustainable answer is not to fight for detention afterwards but to price it in beforehand, or to decline. Once you know your lanes you know which receivers cost you a day, and that knowledge belongs in the rate you quote.

Run the arithmetic with your own figure: put a realistic annual hours-lost estimate into your utilisation and see what it does to your cost per mile in the calculator. Detention shows up there as fewer revenue miles over the same fixed costs, which is the honest way to see it.

Frequently asked questions

How long before detention starts?

Whatever the rate confirmation says, commonly after a period of free time at each stop. It is a contract term, not a regulation, so it varies by broker and load.

Why was my detention claim rejected?

Usually missing documentation: unsigned in and out times, or notification outside the window the confirmation required.

Do I need approval for accessorials?

For most, yes, in writing and in advance. Without it, payment is unlikely regardless of how necessary the charge was.

Detention and Accessorials