A truck sitting at a dock for three extra hours isn't just an annoyance — it's a real cost: the driver's time, the truck not moving toward its next load, fuel burned idling. Detention pay exists specifically to cover that, and it's owed far more often than it actually gets collected. The gap usually isn't that shippers refuse to pay it — it's that carriers don't document it well enough to make the claim easy to approve.
Know the terms before the truck arrives
You can't enforce a detention clause that was never agreed to. Before the load moves, confirm the free time allowed and the detention rate — see our rate confirmation guide for exactly what to check. If the rate con is silent on detention, that's the moment to push for it in writing, not after the driver has already been waiting for two hours.
Document the clock, not just the memory of it
Three timestamps make or break a detention claim:
- —Arrival time at the facility (not the appointment time — the actual arrival)
- —Check-in time, if the facility has a separate check-in process
- —Departure time, once loaded or unloaded and released
A driver texting dispatch "just got here" and "finally leaving" is enough, as long as those messages have real timestamps attached and get saved somewhere retrievable — not just visible in a phone that gets deleted a week later.
Get a signature or a BOL timestamp if you can
A bill of lading with an arrival and departure time noted, or a signature from facility staff acknowledging the wait, is stronger evidence than a driver's own timestamp alone — it's much harder for a broker or shipper to dispute a claim backed by paperwork their own facility signed off on.
File it while it's fresh, not at month end
Batching detention claims into a monthly cleanup means chasing down details from three weeks ago, and it gives the other side more time to say they can't verify what happened. Submit the claim, with your timestamps and any documentation attached, at the same time you invoice for the load itself — not as an afterthought.
Know which shippers are chronic offenders
If you track it consistently, a pattern shows up fast: certain facilities detain trucks far more often than others. That's useful information — you can price future loads to that facility accordingly, negotiate tighter appointment windows, or simply decide it's not worth taking their freight at the same rate anymore.
Where Haulstats fits
Every shipment has an Issues tab a driver can use to log a delay the moment it starts happening, timestamped automatically — not reconstructed from memory later. Combined with the shipment's own status history, that gives you a real, timestamped record to attach to a detention claim. See the dispatch guide for how exception reporting works.