How do detention charges work on a truckload?
Detention charges are what a shipper or receiver pays when a truck is held at the dock past its free time, which is usually two hours, and they are billed by the hour after that. The charge holds up when the free time and the hourly rate are written on the rate confirmation and the driver’s in and out times are on the bill of lading. Lifetime Logistics Services LLC states the free time with every truckload price, and the quote form on this page starts yours.
Today's numbers
Computed October 30, 2026 (Pacific) from our own lane history and that morning's diesel price. Full truckload, US dollars.
| Lane | Trailer | Miles | Typical | Most loads | Per mile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visalia to the Inland Empire | Dry van | 189 | $775 | $750 to $800 | $4.10 |
| The Inland Empire to Visalia | Dry van | 190 | $1,025 | $1,025 to $1,050 | $5.39 |
Diesel this week: $8.155 a gallon, the U.S. Energy Information Administration's average retail price for California for the week of October 26, 2026.
Full truckload, linehaul including fuel, before accessorials such as detention or lumper.
These are estimates, not quotes. Ask for a firm quote on your load.
Why a truck’s waiting time costs money
A truckload price pays for the trip, plus a set amount of time at each end to load and unload. That set amount is the free time. Once it runs out, the truck is parked at someone else’s dock instead of earning on the road, and the driver’s legal working day keeps running. Federal hours of service rules give a driver 11 hours behind the wheel inside a 14 hour window, and hours spent waiting at a dock burn that window just as driving does.
So a long wait costs more than the hours themselves. A driver held all morning may not be able to reach the next pickup, and the carrier can lose that load as well. Detention is the charge that pays the carrier for the time. It is not a penalty and it is not profit on the load; it is the price of keeping a truck and a driver from their next job.
The one line that settles most arguments
Most detention disputes are not about the hourly rate. They are about whether the clock ever started, and that comes down to what was agreed in writing before the truck rolled. The rate confirmation is the place for it. A good line names the free time at pickup and at delivery, when the clock starts, the hourly rate, how the time rounds, and who has to be told once the free time is close to running out.
Each of those parts answers a fight that would otherwise happen afterward. If the clock starts at the appointment time, a driver who shows up early does not start it. If someone must be told before detention begins, a carrier that stays silent for six hours has a weak claim, and a shipper who hears early can move the truck up or call the receiver. Read that line before you agree to the load, and ask for a change if any part is missing.
What proves the time
A detention bill is only as strong as its timestamps. The usual proof is the driver’s arrival and departure times written on the bill of lading and signed by someone at the dock. Many carriers back that up with tracking data or the electronic logging device in the cab, and some facilities print their own gate times.
Trouble starts when the papers disagree, or when the out time was left blank because the driver was in a hurry to leave. As a shipper, have your dock write the real times on the paperwork and keep your gate log for a while afterward. If a receiver is holding your truck, ask the driver or dispatcher to send word while it is happening. Hearing about a four hour wait on the invoice leaves you nothing to do about it.
Who ends up paying
The party that hired the truck gets the bill. On a load booked through a broker, the carrier bills the broker and the broker bills the shipper, usually with the bill of lading attached. That is true even if the delay happened at your customer’s warehouse, because the receiver has no agreement with the carrier. Whether you can pass the cost along to your customer depends on your own sales terms, so if your receivers run slow, it is worth putting detention in those terms too.
Detention also sits apart from the other extras. Layover pays for a truck held overnight. A truck ordered and then cancelled is usually billed as truck ordered, not used. A lumper fee pays a warehouse’s crew to unload. On a flatbed, ask whether tarping and securing count against free time, because that work can take a good part of it. The estimates in the numbers box above are for the move itself; none of these extras are in them.
How to keep the clock from running
The cheapest detention is the kind that never starts. Give the carrier an appointment your dock can really meet, have the freight staged before the truck arrives, and tell the broker the same day if a line is down or a load will not be ready. Ask your receivers what their real unload times look like, too, since a delivery appointment that always runs late will be priced in sooner or later.
On a lane with enough freight, the better fix is a drop trailer: the driver leaves an empty, hooks a loaded trailer and goes, and your crew works at its own pace. Ask how long a dropped trailer may sit before a charge applies, since that has its own limit. Our terms set free time at two hours from the driver’s arrival, billed in quarter hours after that, and your quote will say so. Send the form at the top of this page with your pickup and delivery, and tell us how your docks load.
From our own loads
Most of our dry vans from the Central Valley to the Inland Empire are drop trailers, so the driver swaps trailers and leaves instead of waiting at the dock. The trip back north is live loads, a little over half of them on our own trucks, so that is where the free time on the paperwork matters. Both directions usually deliver the day after pickup.
Questions shippers ask
- When does detention start?
- When the free time on the rate confirmation runs out. Most agreements count from the appointment time or the driver’s arrival, so check which one yours uses.
- Do I pay detention if my receiver caused the delay?
- Usually, yes, because you hired the truck and the receiver has no agreement with the carrier. You can pass the cost to your customer only if your sales terms allow it.
- Can I dispute a detention charge?
- Yes. Ask for the bill of lading with the signed in and out times, then compare it with your gate log and the rate confirmation. A claim with no times on paper is hard to support.
- Does a drop trailer avoid detention?
- Mostly, because the driver does not wait while the trailer is loaded. Ask how long a dropped trailer may sit, since a separate charge can apply after that.
Ready to price a load?
Send the quote form or call us. Quotes within 15 minutes, Monday to Friday 6 AM to 6 PM Pacific; operations team available 24/7 for active loads.