Detention
Detention is the charge a carrier bills when its truck is held at a shipper or receiver beyond the agreed free time; the common norm is two hours free, then an hourly rate.
What is Detention?
No federal rule sets detention pay. It exists because carriers write it into their tariffs and rate confirmations. FMCSA describes detention time as the extra time drivers wait at shipping and receiving facilities for reasons not tied to loading and unloading, and notes that industry, government and researchers commonly treat time at a facility beyond 2 hours as detention. That is where the familiar "two hours free" comes from.
Detention is costly beyond the invoice. A 2018 report by the DOT Office of Inspector General estimated that detention reduces the annual earnings of for-hire truckload drivers by US$1.1 to 1.3 billion and the net income of truckload carriers by US$250.6 to 302.9 million, and that a 15-minute increase in average dwell time raises the expected crash rate by 6.2%.
Waiting also eats into hours of service. The 14-hour driving window is a wall-clock limit, so every hour a driver sits at a dock is an hour less available to drive that day. An FMCSA pilot program that would let enrolled drivers pause the 14-hour window for 30 minutes to 3 hours at a pickup or delivery is still being prepared; it is not a general rule.
How detention pay is calculated
Detention is billed from the appointment time or the arrival time, whichever the contract names, until the truck is released, minus the free time. Example: the appointment is 8:00, the driver checks in at 7:45 and leaves at 12:30. With billing from the appointment and 2 hours free, 2.5 hours are billable; at an hourly rate of US$75 that is US$187.50. Many contracts bill in 15-minute or 30-minute increments and cap detention per day. The free detention calculator runs this for any stop.
Documentation decides whether it gets paid: check-in and check-out times, ideally from GPS or the driver app, plus the name of whoever signed the paperwork. Most brokers also require the carrier to report a detention event while it is happening, not after the load delivers.
Frequently asked questions
How much free time do carriers usually allow before detention starts?
Two hours is the common norm for truckload, both in contracts and in how FMCSA describes detention. Some contracts allow more for live unloads or less for drop-and-hook appointments. The free time that counts is the one written on the rate confirmation.
Is detention pay required by law?
No. There is no federal detention-pay requirement. Detention is a contractual accessorial: the carrier can only bill it if it was agreed in the tariff, the broker-carrier agreement or the rate confirmation.
Does detention time count toward hours of service?
Yes, in practice. Waiting at a dock is usually logged as on-duty not driving, and even if a driver goes off duty the 14-hour window keeps running. Long detention can leave a driver unable to legally complete the next load. Check the remaining hours with the hours of service calculator.
What is the difference between detention and layover?
Detention covers hours of waiting within a day. Layover is billed when a driver is held overnight or into the next day, for example because a receiver cannot unload until tomorrow, and it is usually a flat daily amount.
See Detention in a real TMS
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