Detention and Accessorials

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 arithmetic on one stop

Illustrative terms and figures, chosen for the arithmetic. The rate confirmation gives two hours of free time and $50 an hour after that. You arrive on time and leave five hours later.

1. Billable detention: 5 hours − 2 free hours = 3 hours × $50 = $150.
2. Hours lost from the 14-hour window compared with a normal two-hour stop: 3.
3. What those hours would have produced driving, at an assumed 50 mph average: 3 × 50 = 150 miles.
4. At an assumed $2.40 of revenue per mile: 150 × $2.40 = $360.
5. Shortfall on the day: $360 − $150 = $210, before any effect on the next load.

Paid in full and on time, detention in this example recovers about 42 percent of what the hours were worth. Unpaid, it recovers nothing. Put in your own rate, speed and revenue per mile; the shape of the result rarely changes.

What waiting does to each clock

How you log waiting time changes which clocks it uses, and the rules on when it may be logged as off duty are specific. See hours of service before relying on it.

What the federal data says

The best official estimate is still the US Department of Transportation Inspector General's 2018 report, which used an FMCSA study defining detention as time at a stop beyond two hours — the same threshold many contracts use. That study found detention at roughly 1 in 10 stops, averaging 1.4 hours, but its data covered only seven months of 2013 and included few small carriers.

From it, the Inspector General estimated that:

• a 15-minute increase in average dwell time increases expected crash rates by 6.2 percent;
• detention reduces annual earnings of for-hire truckload drivers by $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion, or $1,281 to $1,534 per driver;
• it reduces truckload carriers' net income by $250.6 million to $302.9 million a year.

The report's own title notes that current data limit further analysis, so treat these as the best available official estimates rather than precise figures. No federal regulation sets detention pay; it is whatever your contract says.

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

1. Photograph the gate and the clock on arrival. Timestamped photos are evidence.
2. Get the in time on the bill of lading, signed by the facility.
3. 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."
4. Get the out time recorded the same way as the in time.
5. 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

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.

Common mistakes

• Arriving late and still expecting detention. Many confirmations void free time and detention if you miss the appointment window. Read the clause.
• Telling the broker by phone only. A call leaves no record. Follow it with a message.
• Accepting "we'll sort it out later". Later, the claim needs the same paperwork, and the people who saw you wait are no longer involved.
• Paying a lumper without a receipt. Without one, reimbursement is unlikely.
• Leaving the hours out of next time's rate. If a receiver held you once, it will probably do it again.

Edge cases

• Drop-and-hook that is not. A "drop" load where you wait for an empty trailer is live time. Get the time stamped as you would for a live load.
• Detention at pickup. Check that the confirmation covers it; some terms only describe delivery. Notify as soon as free time ends, exactly as you would at the receiver.
• Multi-stop loads. Free time may apply per stop or across the whole load. Confirm which before you leave the first stop.
• Containers. At ports and rail ramps, waiting and equipment charges follow a separate set of terms. See demurrage and detention for the ocean side.

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.

Is there a federal rule that requires detention pay?

No. Detention is a contract term set in the rate confirmation or carrier agreement. The hours-of-service rules govern how the waiting affects your driving time, not whether you are paid for it.

Does detention affect safety?

The DOT Inspector General's 2018 report estimated that a 15-minute increase in average dwell time increases expected crash rates by 6.2 percent. It notes that delays use up drivers' available hours and may contribute to speeding and hours-of-service violations.

Related

• Reading a rate confirmation.
• Hours of service explained.