When does detention start? How many free hours you get

Appointment vs arrival vs check-in

Detention is contractual. The rate confirmation (or carrier agreement) decides when free time starts and how long it runs. On one stop you will see three different times:

• Appointment time: what the rate con or dispatch set. Many rate cons start free time here if you arrived on time.
• Gate arrival: when you physically hit the facility. Photograph the gate or guard shack.
• Check-in: when the facility accepts you into its system (kiosk, window or guard). This can be minutes or hours after gate arrival.

Record all three. Disputes often hinge on "you weren't checked in until…" even when you were sitting at the gate. Full documentation checklist: how to get paid for detention time.

How many free hours do shippers get?

Usually two. 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." It isn't a law: no federal rule sets free time, so the number on your rate con is the one that counts.

After free time ends, detention runs at the rate on your rate con. The median fees in 2023 were $50 an hour for truckload, $60 for refrigerated and $80 for specialized freight (ATRI). Caps and 15- or 30-minute increments appear on some contracts. Rates and the $225 example: average detention pay per hour.

If free time isn't on the rate con, you are asking for a favor, not billing a fee. Ask in writing before you roll.

Late arrival usually breaks the clock

Arrive after the appointment and you may lose detention entirely, even if you wait five hours after you show up. ATRI notes that a carrier may not be able to bill detention when the driver was late, even if the wait ran much longer than the lateness. Some published terms say so outright: Campbell's pays no detention when the carrier arrives after the scheduled appointment.

That is why you stamp gate arrival and keep the appointment time on the invoice. If you were late, be honest on the bill; padding times to "fix" lateness creates a rate-con / stamp mismatch and a denial. How denials get fixed: detention claim denied.

Notice before free time expires

Many brokers require written notice while you are still waiting, by email or text, before free time ends. No notice can mean no detention, even with perfect BOL times. A simple message works: "Still at the dock, arrived 09:16, free time ends 11:16, detention at $75/h per rate con." Save the thread and attach it to the detention invoice.

Worked examples with 2-hour free time

Example A: on time, appointment clock

Appointment 09:00. You arrive 08:50, check in 09:05, depart 14:00. Rate con: free time starts at the appointment if you're on time; 2 hours free; $75/h. Free time ends 11:00. Appointment to departure is 5 hours, so 3 are billable: $225.

Example B: on time, but a long check-in line

Appointment 09:00. Gate 08:55, check-in not until 10:30, depart 14:00. If the rate con starts free time at the appointment, free time still ends 11:00. If it starts at check-in, free time ends 12:30. The clause decides; your photos of the gate and the check-in decide the dispute.

Example C: late arrival

Appointment 09:00. You arrive 10:15, depart 15:15. Even with 5 hours on site, many rate cons pay no detention because you missed the appointment. Document it; don't invent a 09:00 arrival.

Run your own numbers: detention pay calculator.

Shipper making you wait 5 hours? Here's what you're owed

Five hours on site with 2 hours free is 3 billable hours: $225 at $75 an hour, or $150 at the $50 truckload median. Five hours past free time means 7 hours on site: 5 × $75 = $375.

Either way, the bill only holds up if the times are on paper: gate arrival, check-in, the signed BOL with in and out times, and your departure. And remember the hours you lose: that wait is on-duty time against your 14-hour window. See detention and hours of service.

What to record so the free-time math holds

Brokers and AP teams don't reconstruct your day from memory. Before you leave the yard:

1. Photograph the gate or guard shack at arrival (with the time on your phone visible in the shot if you can).
2. Photograph the check-in screen, kiosk or window ticket.
3. Get the BOL signed with in and out times written on it, then photograph it before you leave.
4. Stamp departure when you roll, not twenty miles down the road.

Those four records, plus the rate-con clause and any notice thread, are what turn "I waited forever" into billable hours after free time. If a claim already bounced, map the rejection to the checklist on claim denied and resubmit once with the missing piece.

In GetDockPay, Arrived / Departed GPS stamps cover gate-in and roll-out; you still add the BOL photo and the load / rate-con numbers so the PDF matches what AP expects.

FAQ

When does detention start?

After free time ends under your rate con. Often two hours after the appointment (if you were on time), or after arrival or check-in if that is what the confirmation says.

How many free hours do shippers get?

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

Is 2-hour free time required by law?

No. It is common contract practice; the Congressional Research Service calls it an "unofficial industry standard." Your rate confirmation controls.

Who pays once the clock starts?

Whoever is on the rate con. On a brokered load, that is the broker, not the dock.

How do I prove when the clock started?

Gate photo, check-in screen, BOL in/out times, and GPS Arrived/Departed stamps. Build them into one packet when you bill.

GetDockPay stamps Arrived at the gate and Departed when you roll, so the free-time math isn't a guess at midnight. With Pro, if you saved the appointment time, you get a reminder 30 minutes before it and at appointment time. After you tap Arrived, a timer counts the free time in your profile from that tap and alerts you when it runs out. It goes by your Arrived tap, not the appointment, so if you got there early, check the rate con for when your clock really starts. The rate con still decides the rule.