You showed up on time. The shipper wasn't ready. Now you've burned three hours at a dock and the clock on your day is gone. So who pays for that time? Here's how detention charges in trucking actually work, and how to make sure you collect.

What detention pay is

Detention is the money you're owed when a shipper or receiver holds you past a reasonable window to load or unload. The industry standard is a free window — usually two hours — after which detention starts accruing.

It's not a favor. It's compensation for time your truck can't earn anywhere else. Every hour parked at a dock is an hour you can't be moving toward your next load.

How the free time and hourly rate work

Most detention arrangements follow the same shape:

  • Free time: typically the first two hours after your appointment.
  • Hourly rate after that: a set dollar amount per hour, agreed before you take the load.
  • A cap: some rate confirmations cap total detention per day.

The exact rate isn't universal — it depends on the customer and what's negotiated up front. That last part matters more than anything: detention only exists if it's written into the rate confirmation before you roll. A rate con that says nothing about detention gives you nothing to collect against.

Documentation is everything

Detention claims live and die on paper. Shippers dispute them constantly, so you win by having a clean, timestamped record. Every time.

What to capture

  • Arrival time — get in-gate documentation or a timestamped photo of the facility and your dash clock.
  • Check-in time at the shipping office.
  • Loaded/unloaded time and your out-gate.
  • Signed paperwork — many shippers will initial your arrival and departure times right on the BOL if you ask.

Your ELD helps here too. The log shows exactly when you arrived and when you left, and it's hard to argue with. Snap photos, note times, keep the signed BOL. If a claim gets pushed back on, that stack of evidence is what gets you paid.

How you actually collect

Here's where a lot of owner-operators lose the money they earned. Filing and chasing a detention claim takes phone calls, follow-up, and knowing which broker or customer to lean on. If you're running solo under your own authority, that's on you — after a long day, and it's the reason a lot of detention just never gets billed.

This is one place leasing on to an established motor carrier pays off. When you run under ARI's authority, you have a dedicated dispatcher — never more than seven trucks — who knows the customer, has the relationship, and can push the detention claim for you instead of leaving you to fight it alone. That's part of what ARI's 18% covers: dispatch, billing, and compliance so the paperwork side actually gets worked.

To be clear: with ARI you don't run your own authority. You lease on and run under ARI's DOT/MC. Getting your own authority is a path that exists in the industry, but it's not what ARI offers — and it also means you'd be chasing every detention claim yourself.

Get paid faster on top of it

Detention only helps your cash flow if the money actually shows up. With ARI you keep a true 82% of gross linehaul, there are no quick-pay or factoring fees, and delivering before noon EST with paperwork in gets you paid the same business day. That's a real difference from the 3-5% factoring fees many carriers charge just to speed up your money.

If you want dispatchers who chase your detention and freight relationships that get you off the dock faster, that's the model worth looking at. Learn how the lease-on works on our owner-operator opportunities page, or start your application when you're ready. Questions? Call (888) 600-9098.