Detention pay for truckers: how to bill it and get it paid

What is detention pay and when does it start?

Detention pay is compensation for time a truck is held at a shipper or receiver beyond an agreed free period. The industry convention is two hours of free time from the scheduled appointment or arrival, after which detention accrues by the hour. It is a contract term between you and the broker or shipper, not a regulation.

There is no federal rule that sets detention pay. It exists because carriers and brokers agree to it, load by load, in the rate confirmation. That is why the same two hours at the same dock can be worth $75 an hour on one load and nothing on the next: the difference is in the paperwork you signed. The two-hour free period is the common convention, and a typical rate confirmation in 2026 quotes something between $50 and $100 an hour after it, often with a daily cap and a requirement that you notified the broker before free time ran out.

What detention costs you is not in dispute. Hours at a dock come straight out of the 14-hour driving window that FMCSA’s hours-of-service rules allow each day, and out of the loaded miles you could have run in them. A three-hour wait on a 500-mile day can run out the 14-hour window, and the truck then sits for a 10-hour break instead of delivering. Detention pay does not give the hours back, but it stops the receiver from spending them for free.

How do you document detention so a broker cannot argue with it?

Record the time you arrived, the time you were loaded or unloaded, and the time you left, with the address, in a system that timestamps the entry. Note who you told and when. Get the in and out times signed on the bill of lading if the dock will. The record has to exist before the dispute does.

Brokers do not pay detention on a driver’s recollection. They pay it on evidence that was created at the time, because that is what they need to bill the shipper. The evidence that works:

• Check-in and check-out timestamps at every stop, entered as they happen. An app that stamps the entry with the clock time and, ideally, the location is far stronger than a note written at the end of the day. MileBrain’s dispatch board records in and out at each stop and flags anything over two hours on site automatically, so the timestamp exists before anyone thinks about detention.
• In and out times on the bill of lading, written by the dock and signed. Not every receiver will do it; ask every time.
• Notice to the broker before free time expires. Most rate confirmations require it. A text or email at the 90-minute mark, with the load number, is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy. Keep the message.
• The appointment time versus the arrival time. If you were late, free time usually starts from your arrival, not the appointment, and some brokers void detention altogether. Being on time is part of the proof.
• Photos with timestamps of the dock door, the trailer number, or the sign-in sheet, if the facility uses one.

Keep all of it on the load, not in a phone gallery. When the invoice goes out three days later, the person building it should not have to search.

What should the rate confirmation say about detention before you sign?

Read for four things: the free time in hours, the rate per hour after it, any cap per day or per stop, and the notice requirement. If any of them is missing, ask for it in writing before you dispatch the truck. A rate confirmation that is silent on detention is a rate confirmation that pays none.

The detention clause is usually a single line in the accessorials section, and it is the line most carriers skip. Look for the exact wording, because the differences matter:

• Free time: two hours is standard. Some rate confirmations quote three or four, and a few quote free time from the appointment while others quote it from arrival.
• Rate: a figure per hour, and whether it is prorated by the quarter hour or paid in whole hours only.
• Cap: a maximum per stop or per day. A $300 cap on a $75 rate means four hours is the most you can bill however long you sit.
• Notice: the requirement to inform the broker before free time runs out, and how. Miss this and the clause is unenforceable in practice, whatever the hours say.
• Proof: what the broker wants attached: signed in and out times, a scanned BOL, sometimes a specific form.
• Layover and truck order not used: related accessorials that cover overnight holds and cancellations, quoted as flat amounts.

If the confirmation is silent, reply before you sign: “Please confirm detention at $X per hour after two hours free, with notice by text to this number.” A broker who will not put it in writing has told you what the wait will be worth. Our rate confirmation guide walks the rest of the document field by field.

How do you invoice detention and actually get it paid?

Put detention on the same invoice as the linehaul, as its own line, with the stop, the arrival and departure times, the hours billed after free time and the rate. Attach the timestamped record and the signed BOL. Send it inside the broker's claim window, which is often 24 to 48 hours after delivery.

Detention that is invoiced late, or on a separate invoice a week after the linehaul, gets disputed or ignored. The mechanics that get it paid:

1. Bill it on the load invoice as a separate line: “Detention, receiver, Rockford IL, in 1:45 pm, out 5:00 pm, 1.25 hours billed after 2.00 free at $75 = $93.75.” A line the broker can forward to the shipper without rewriting it is a line that gets approved.
2. Attach the proof the rate confirmation asked for: the in and out record, the signed BOL, the notice message.
3. Send inside the window. Many rate confirmations require detention to be requested within 24 or 48 hours of delivery. Same-day is the habit that works.
4. Track it like any receivable. Detention that is approved but unpaid ages exactly like the linehaul. It belongs on the same aging list, in red at 30 days, with the same follow-up.
5. Watch the broker’s record. A broker who routinely disputes documented detention is telling you the rate on the next load is lower than it looks. Note it on the customer record and price the next quote accordingly.

None of this is complicated. It is a discipline of writing the time down when you arrive, telling the broker before the clock runs out, and billing it the day you deliver. Software makes the first easy and the third quick; only you can do the second. The free MileBrain plan records the stop times, flags the load after two hours on site, and lets you add the detention line to the same invoice.