Detention Charge Calculator
Enter arrival time, departure time, and the free time on the rate confirmation. Get the billable detention hours, the total charge, and a clean line item ready to drop on the customer invoice. Plus: the full guide on how detention actually works.
Calculate detention charge
How detention actually works
Detention is the carrier's fee for time a tractor and driver spend held at a pickup or delivery beyond the agreed-on "free time" on the rate confirmation. The economics: a tractor + driver costs the carrier roughly $80–$130/hour all-in (fuel, depreciation, driver pay, insurance). If a 4-hour delivery turns into a 10-hour wait, somebody has to absorb that 6-hour cost — and the carrier's standard answer is "the customer who delayed me."
The three numbers that matter
| Concept | What it means |
|---|---|
| Free time | The number of hours the rate confirmation gives the customer to load or unload before detention starts accruing. Industry standard: 2 hours. Larger commercial customers may negotiate 3 or 4. |
| Detention rate | The hourly charge after free time expires. Industry standard: $75–$100 per hour. Some heavy-haul or oversize moves command $125+. Reefer/cold storage can go higher. |
| Rounding | How fractional hours are billed. Industry standard: quarter-hour increments, rounded up. So 2 hr 7 min over free time = 2.25 hr billable. |
The standard formula
The calculation:
- Total time on site = departure − arrival (in hours)
- Detention time = total time on site − free time
- Billable hours = round(detention time, rounding rule)
- Total charge = billable hours × hourly rate
If detention time is zero or negative (driver loaded within free time), no detention charge.
How to actually collect detention
Calculating detention is easy. Collecting it is the hard part. The honest truth:
- You need documentation. Driver in-time and out-time on the BOL, signed by the shipper/consignee. Photos of the gate timestamp. Text from the driver with timestamps. The customer will dispute every detention charge unless your evidence is bulletproof.
- Notify the customer within 24 hours. Detention charges that show up on the invoice 2 weeks after the load are easier for AP to dispute. A same-day "we detained 3.5 hours, billable per rate con" email is much harder to argue with.
- Reference the rate confirmation explicitly. Every detention invoice line should cite "per rate con dated YYYY-MM-DD, free time 2hr, detention rate $75/hr" — the customer signed the rate con, the line item reads as enforcement.
- Accept that some won't pay. Industry collection rate on detention charges is roughly 60–70%. The other 30–40% gets disputed, written off, or "discounted" to keep the relationship. Build that into your pricing.
- Detention plus other accessorials. Common companion line items: layover ($200–$400/day if the driver has to stay overnight), TONU (truck order not used — $150–$300 if the load cancels at the dock), reconsignment fees.
How the load market actually prices detention
Across the US dry-van and reefer market in 2026:
| Segment | Free time | Detention rate |
|---|---|---|
| Dry van, owner-operator / small carrier | 2 hr | $75/hr |
| Dry van, mid-size carrier (5–20 trucks) | 2 hr | $75–$100/hr |
| Reefer / temperature-controlled | 2 hr | $85–$125/hr |
| Flatbed / step deck | 2 hr | $75–$100/hr |
| Heavy haul / oversize | 2 hr | $100–$150/hr |
| Hazmat | 2 hr | $100–$150/hr |
| Cross-dock / multi-stop | 1 hr per stop | $75/hr |
| Large fleet / enterprise broker | 3–4 hr | $50–$75/hr |
Larger brokers (Werner, J.B. Hunt, C.H. Robinson) often negotiate longer free time and lower rates in exchange for volume. Smaller carriers can hold firmer on the industry standard.
Stop tracking detention from text messages.
FreightCoreTMS auto-starts the detention clock when the driver checks in at pickup or delivery, applies the rate con's free time and hourly rate automatically, and drops the detention line item on the customer invoice the moment the load delivers. No more calculating by hand or chasing the timestamp 3 weeks later.
See how it works →Related resources
Last updated: 2026-06-05. Detention rate references reviewed quarterly. Spot something stale? Email [email protected].