What is detention pay in trucking? How it works, who pays and the rules

Detention pay, in plain English

Detention pay is money owed to a truck driver or carrier for time held at a shipper or receiver after the free time runs out. The Congressional Research Service describes detention as "the time a truck driver waits at a warehouse until warehouse personnel are ready to unload or load the driver's truck." It is usually billed by the hour, as its own line, to whoever is on your rate confirmation.

Figures from ATRI, Costs and Consequences of Truck Driver Detention (September 2024). All sources are listed at the bottom of the page.

How detention pay works, step by step

1. The rate con sets the terms. Free time, the hourly rate, when the clock starts, whether you have to notify the broker, and how to bill it. If there are no detention terms on paper, there is nothing to bill against.
2. You arrive on time and record it. The appointment, your gate arrival and your check-in are three different times. Keep all three.
3. Free time runs. Usually 2 hours, counted from the appointment or from your arrival, whichever the rate con says.
4. You tell the broker before free time runs out, in writing, if the rate con requires notice.
5. The detention clock runs until you are released. Get your in and out times signed on the BOL.
6. You bill it the same day: billable hours times the rate, on its own line or invoice, with the proof attached.
7. You follow up until it is paid or denied.

Worked example: you arrive at 2:00 PM for a 2:00 PM appointment and leave at 7:30 PM, with 2 hours free at $75 an hour. That is 5 hours 30 minutes on site and 3 hours 30 minutes billable: 3.50 × $75 = $262.50. Try your own times in the detention pay calculator.

How many free hours before detention starts?

Two hours is the norm, but it isn't a law. In ATRI's 2024 carrier survey, 67% of carriers that charge detention start at the two-hour mark, 12% at one hour and 6% at three hours. The Congressional Research Service calls two hours an "unofficial industry standard."

Your rate con decides, and it also decides when the clock starts: the appointment time, your arrival or your check-in. Arriving late can cost you the whole claim. Campbell's published carrier terms, for example, pay detention only when the truck arrives at or before the scheduled appointment. More on the clock: when detention starts.

How much is detention pay per hour?

There is no standard rate. These are the most reliable published numbers we found:

• Median detention fee in 2023: $50 an hour for truckload, $60 for refrigerated and $80 for specialized freight (ATRI, 2024). ATRI also found fees rose a median of just 3% from 2018 to 2023.
• What owner-operators collect: $53.69 an hour on average (median $50) for owner-operators with their own authority, in the OOIDA Foundation's 2023 Detention Time Survey.
• What drivers call fair: $75 an hour, the median answer in the same survey (the average answer was $80.33).
• Published terms: J.B. Hunt's carrier terms (December 2020) pay $50 an hour with automated tracking or $40 recorded manually, starting 2 hours after the arrival check call, up to 5 hours. Campbell's (2024) pays $1 a minute after the first 2 hours past the appointment, up to $360.

Caps, increments and how to negotiate: average detention pay per hour.

Truck driver detention pay rules: what the law says

No federal law or FMCSA regulation requires a shipper, receiver or broker to pay detention, and none sets a rate or a time limit. Detention is a contract term. In the Congressional Research Service's words, waiting time "can be specified in a contract between a carrier and shipper and may include a compensation rate."

What the federal rules do cover is your time: hours spent waiting at a shipper are on-duty time under the hours-of-service rules, and FMCSA makes no allowance for loading and unloading delays. See does detention count toward hours of service?

So the rules that matter are the ones on your rate confirmation, or in your carrier agreement if you are leased on. Read them before you accept the load: what to look for in the detention clause.

Who pays detention: the shipper or the broker?

Whoever is on your rate confirmation. On a brokered load that is the broker, even though the shipper or receiver made you wait. If you are leased to a carrier, the carrier pays you under your lease. On a direct shipper contract, the shipper pays.

In the OOIDA Foundation's 2023 survey, owner-operators with their own authority collected detention mostly through brokers (70%), while leased-on owner-operators collected it mostly through their carrier (65%).

Detention is an accessorial charge

Accessorials are charges on top of the linehaul rate for extra time or work: detention, layover, truck ordered not used (TONU), lumper fees and the like. J.B. Hunt's standard carrier accessorials, for example, include detention, layover and TONU.

Bill detention as its own line or its own invoice, not buried in the linehaul. And check that it is priced in your contract: Campbell's terms say any accessorial without a listed rate is treated as included in the linehaul rate, with no extra charge.

Detention vs layover, and hours of service

Layover is a different charge: usually a flat amount per day when a load holds you overnight or for a full day, instead of an hourly charge for a same-day wait. Published terms often don't pay both for the same stop. Full comparison: detention vs layover pay.

Hours of service: waiting at the dock is on-duty time, so it uses your 14-hour window and your 60/70 hours, but not your 11 hours of driving. Details: detention and your HOS.

How common is detention, and which stops are worst?

Very common. Drivers reported detention at 39.3% of stops in 2023, and at 56.2% of stops for refrigerated drivers (ATRI, 2024). OOIDA members said they wait about 14.3 hours a week to load and unload (OOIDA Foundation, 2023).

We don't publish "worst shipper" lists built from other sites' data. In the GetDockPay app, a facility's Dock Score comes from drivers' own logged stops, so you can see how long drivers sit there before you book.

How to get paid for detention

The short version: get the terms in writing, record your times, tell the broker before free time ends, get the BOL signed, bill the same day, and follow up. ATRI found carriers bill detention only 75% of the time, and only 55% of those invoices get paid, so the follow-up matters as much as the rate.

Step by step: how to get paid for detention time. Free template: detention invoice template. If the broker goes quiet: broker not paying detention?

FAQ

What is detention pay in trucking?

Pay for the time a shipper or receiver holds your truck past the free time on your rate con, usually billed by the hour.

How does detention pay work?

Your rate con sets the free time, the rate and when the clock starts. Once free time runs out, you bill the extra time at that rate, with proof of your in and out times.

How many free hours do truckers get before detention?

Usually two. 67% of carriers that charge detention start at two hours, 12% at one hour and 6% at three hours (ATRI, 2024). Your rate con decides.

Is detention pay required by law?

No. No federal law requires detention pay or sets a rate. It is paid when your contract says so.

Do company drivers get detention pay?

Only if their carrier's pay policy includes it. In OOIDA's 2023 survey, 26% of company drivers got no detention pay, and those who did were paid $37.70 an hour on average.

Who pays detention, the shipper or the broker?

The party on your rate con. On a brokered load, that is the broker.