Contracts, Detention Pay, and Getting Paid

Your load pays $2.00/mile and takes 12 hours. You expect $240, right?

Then you arrive at the shipper and spend 4 hours waiting to load. You’re not making money during those 4 hours—your truck is sitting, your driver is waiting, and the clock is running against your availability on your next load. That’s detention.

Standard detention pay ranges from $25–$100/hour depending on what’s negotiated and what type of cargo you’re handling. The problem: most carriers never discuss it. Then they sit for three hours, accept the load anyway, and discover too late that detention terms weren’t included. You’ve just turned a profitable load into a loss.

The rule is simple but critical: Detention terms must be in writing on the rate confirmation before you accept the load. Without that, you have no leverage to collect after the fact.

What Detention Actually Is

Detention is compensation for wait time beyond a grace period at a shipper or receiver facility.

The standard grace period is 2 hours. If you show up and get loaded within 2 hours, that’s free. It’s built into the load economics. If loading takes 3 hours, the first 2 are on you; you get paid for the 3rd.

Detention rates are what you charge for each hour past that grace period. Common rates run:

$25–$50/hour for dry van (commodity loads, fastest turntime)
$50–$75/hour for reefer (longer wait times are common; shippers expect to pay more)
$75–$100/hour for specialized freight (hazmat, heavy, or equipment requiring special handling)

These are directional ranges based on what brokers and shippers negotiate. Your actual detention rate depends on what you negotiated and what’s written on the rate confirmation.

Why It Has to Be In Writing (Before You Accept)

Here’s the scenario: You’re offered a $1,600 load (800 miles at $2.00/mile). Broker says “detention pays $50/hour.” You accept. You show up, get into a queue, and wait 4 hours to load.

The clock shows 4 hours past the grace period = 2 hours of detention at $50/hour = $100.

You invoice the shipper for $1,700 ($1,600 load + $100 detention). The shipper pays it. You get paid.

But if detention wasn’t written on the rate confirmation, here’s what happens instead: You sit for 4 hours, you invoice for $1,700, and the shipper (or broker, if they’re the payer) says, “We didn’t agree to that. We’re only paying $1,600.” You’re now chasing the extra $100, and the longer you push, the longer payment gets delayed. You just turned a profitable load into a collection problem.

The solution: Detention terms go on the rate confirmation from the broker before you say yes to the load.

The Rate Confirmation Checklist

When a broker sends you a load offer (via your board, email, phone, or dispatch system), confirm it includes:

Load rate ($/mile and total amount)
Equipment type (dry van, reefer, flatbed, etc.)
Origin and destination (pickup and delivery zip codes or addresses)
Detention rate ($/hour, grace period, maximum hours paid)
Fuel surcharge (if applicable)
Lumper fees (if paid by you or the broker—confirm who pays)
Escrow or cash-on-delivery notes (if the shipper requires hold-backs)
Cancellation policy (what happens if you cancel, or if the broker/shipper cancels)

If detention isn’t on the confirmation, send the broker a message: “Is detention paid on this load? If yes, what’s the rate?” Get their answer, add it to the confirmation, and then accept.

Common Detention Scenarios

Scenario 1: Long queue, shipper is busy

You arrive at a distribution center. There are 8 trucks ahead of you. The first truck takes 90 minutes; so does the second. You wait 3.5 hours before you’re under the dock. That’s 1.5 hours past the grace period. If detention is $50/hour, you’re owed $75. That’s real money—never leave it on the table.

Scenario 2: Shipper holds your paperwork

Paperwork goes missing; shipper doesn’t have proof of pickup from the previous load. You’re stuck waiting 2 hours while they track it down. That’s not on you. That’s detention. And it happens frequently enough that shippers know to budget for it.

Scenario 3: Live load (shipper is producing the freight as you wait)

Some shipments—especially fresh produce, flowers, or food items—are loaded fresh. The shipper produces as you wait. This can take 2–4 hours. Grace period is built in, but anything past 2 hours should be paid detention. If you’re hauling fresh freight, confirm detention rates upfront because waits are predictable.

Scenario 4: Detention at a drop trailer (cross-dock)

You drop a trailer at a cross-dock for consolidation, and the cross-dock holds it for 48 hours before the next stage moves it. That’s typically free, not your detention—it’s “dock detention” and the broker/shipper handles it. But confirm this upfront. If you’re responsible for detention on a drop trailer, make sure the rate is written down.

Payment Delays and Factoring

Detention disputes often lead to payment delays. The broker or shipper withholds the disputed $75–$100 to “investigate,” and suddenly your net-30 payment becomes net-45.

If detention delays are a pattern with a particular broker, you have two options:

Stop taking loads from that broker if they consistently dispute or delay. Move to a broker with a better reputation.
Use a freight factoring company to convert unpaid invoices into immediate cash. This isn’t a long-term strategy—it costs 2–5% of your invoice—but it smooths the cash-flow gaps when payment gets delayed. See Factoring for more.

The real solution is vetting upfront: a broker with a clean credit score (87+) and a short days-to-pay history rarely disputes detention.

Your Detention Negotiation Workflow

Confirm detention is included in the rate confirmation from the broker before you accept.
Know the standard for your equipment and cargo type (see the ranges above, but negotiate to your market).
Add it to your rate confirmation if the broker doesn’t include it automatically.
Document waits. Use your ELD or logbook timestamps to show exactly when you arrived and when you pulled away. That’s your proof.
Invoice for it immediately after delivery. Don’t wait for the standard settlement; invoice separately if you have to.
Follow up if the shipper disputes it. Most legitimate shippers won’t; they know detention is standard. If they do, escalate to the broker.

Detention Is Negotiable

Many new carriers treat detention as a fixed number: “Detention is $50/hour, take it or leave it.” It’s not. Detention is a deal point, just like the per-mile rate.

If a broker offers you $1.80/mile with $25/hour detention, you can negotiate for $2.00/mile with $50/hour detention. Or vice versa. The total revenue of the load is what matters; the split between miles and detention is flexible.

Don’t accept low detention on a load you know will have long waits. That’s leaving money on the table.

Next Steps

Check your last 10 loads. How many had detention written on the confirmation? If it’s less than 8, you’re not capturing terms systematically.
Add detention to your standard questions when a broker sends you a load: “Are detention terms included? If yes, what’s the rate?”
Track detention disputes. If a shipper or broker disputes detention, that’s a signal about their integrity. Note it.
Build the habit. Every rate confirmation includes detention (or an explanation of why it doesn’t). Make this automatic before you accept.

Detention is typically 5–10% of your load revenue when you’re doing long-haul freight. That’s significant enough to negotiate, track, and collect. The carriers who do this systematically protect themselves from the slow cash-flow erosion that kills profitability.