You've been sitting at a dock for four hours and the meter in your head is running. The real question is simple: am I getting paid for this wait, and how do I actually collect it?

Detention pay is real money, but it doesn't collect itself. Here's how it works and how to stop leaving it on the table.

What detention pay actually is

Detention (sometimes called "demurrage" at ports) is compensation for the time you're held at a shipper or receiver beyond a reasonable window to load or unload.

The industry standard free time is two hours. After that, the clock should start on detention. That two-hour grace period is baked into most rate confirmations, so read yours before you back into the dock.

Typical detention rates and how they're set

Detention is almost always negotiated before the load moves, and it's spelled out on the rate confirmation. If it's not on the rate con, it doesn't exist as far as the broker or shipper is concerned.

What to watch for:

  • The free-time window — usually two hours, sometimes more for known slow facilities.
  • The hourly or per-day rate — this varies widely by lane, commodity, and customer, so confirm the number in writing.
  • A cap — many rate cons cap detention at a set number of hours or a daily maximum.
  • Accessorial approval — some brokers require you to notify them once you hit the free-time limit, before detention starts accruing.

Because rates and caps swing so much, never assume. Get the figure confirmed on paper.

How to document detention so you actually get paid

This is where most owner-operators lose the money. Detention claims live or die on documentation. Build the habit on every load:

  • Log your in-time. Note the exact minute you arrive and check in. Your ELD time and a check-in photo help.
  • Get the arrival and departure noted on the BOL. Ask the shipper or receiver to write and initial your in and out times.
  • Notify dispatch or the broker when you hit the free-time mark. A timestamped message creates a paper trail.
  • Take photos. Gate logs, check-in windows, the timestamped guard shack sign — anything that proves when you got there and when you left.
  • Submit fast and clean. Detention claims tied to your paperwork move faster and get disputed less.

The cleaner your file, the harder it is for anyone to argue the wait away.

Where a real carrier makes the difference

Chasing detention alone is a grind. On a self-dispatch app, you're the one fighting the broker for accessorials on top of finding and negotiating every load yourself.

Running under an established carrier changes that math. At ARI, you lease on and run under ARI's own DOT/MC authority, and you get a dedicated dispatcher — never more than seven trucks each — who knows your lanes, negotiates the rate con up front, and helps push detention and accessorial claims through the broker or shipper. That's the difference between someone who has your back and an app that doesn't.

Two more things that matter when detention has already blown up your day:

  • Same-day pay. Deliver before noon EST with paperwork in, and you're paid the same business day — no quick-pay fees eating the money you already waited for.
  • 82% revenue share and zero escrow. You keep more of what you earn, and ARI holds nothing back.

Detention will always be part of this business. The goal is making sure the wait shows up on your settlement instead of disappearing.

If you're tired of fighting for accessorials by yourself, see how the model works on our owner-operator opportunities, and when you're ready, start your lease-on with ARI and put a dispatcher who knows your lanes to work.