Detention Pay Calculator for Truck Drivers

Enter your appointment time, when you checked in, when you left, the free time and the hourly rate from your rate confirmation. The calculator works out how long you were held, how many hours are billable and the detention to put on your invoice, with any rounding rule and daily cap applied.

Use it at the dock to know when detention starts, and again when you send the claim, so the math in your email matches the times on the bill of lading.

How to use the detention pay calculator

1. Appointment time. From the rate confirmation or the shipper's confirmation email. For first come, first served loads, use the start of the window you were given.
2. Checked in. The time on your gate pass, check-in slip or the guard's log. Your ELD location history backs it up if the paper is missing.
3. Checked out. When you were released with signed paperwork, ideally written on the bill of lading.
4. Free time, rate, rounding and cap. Copy them from the rate confirmation's accessorial section. If the rate con doesn't mention detention, you're negotiating from scratch, so ask before you leave the dock.

Our guide to collecting detention pay and TONU covers what proof to keep at the dock and how to word the claim. This page handles the math.

How the calculator counts

Arriving early doesn't start the clock sooner. Most rate confirmations measure free time from the appointment, so the calculator does too. The "time at the dock" result still shows your full wait from check-in, which is useful for planning your hours.

There's no federal rule that sets detention pay. It's a contract term between you and the broker, which is why the rate con matters. The Department of Transportation's Inspector General studied the problem and estimated that a 15-minute increase in average dwell time raises the expected crash rate by 6.2%. Long waits cost safety as well as money.

Worked examples

All made-up times and terms. Your rate con sets the real ones.

The cap in the third row costs the driver $287.50 compared with the uncapped hours. When a hold runs that long, it's often worth asking the broker about layover pay instead, which usually covers a lost day.

The late arrival row shows the calculator's warning. Many rate confirmations say detention doesn't apply if you miss your appointment. Some brokers still pay from your arrival time, so check yours before you write it off.

How to read your result

Hours at a dock are on-duty hours, and they eat your 14-hour window. If a long hold means you can't make the next pickup legally, the hours of service trip planner shows when you can arrive. FMCSA's summary of hours of service rules lists the limits.

Detention by equipment type

How often you'll use this calculator depends on what you pull. Reefer drivers wait the most, because food warehouses and grocery distribution centers run tight receiving schedules and often unload by appointment slot. Our reefer dispatch page covers how we plan around them.

Dry van drivers see long waits at big retail distribution centers, especially in peak season. Flatbed waits come from loading time at mills and yards, where a crane or forklift schedule decides your day. Our seasonal freight calendar shows when each kind of freight is busiest, which is also when docks back up.

Power only and drop-and-hook loads usually avoid detention altogether, since you pick up a loaded trailer instead of waiting for one. That's one reason some carriers prefer them. If a facility is known for long waits, ask your broker about a drop trailer before you book.

Common mistakes

• Counting from arrival when you were early. The clock usually starts at the appointment.
• Rounding up. Brokers bill in full steps. Rounding up invites a dispute you'll lose.
• Waiting to notify. Many brokers only pay if they were told before free time ran out.
• Leaving the out time off the BOL. Without it, the claim is your word against the receiver's. Our guide to the rate confirmation, line by line shows where detention terms belong before you roll.
• Billing weeks later. Send the claim with the invoice. Shippers have short billing windows.

What detention does to the load

Detention pay rarely makes up for the lost time. A $195 claim doesn't cover a missed reload worth $1,500. That's why it pays to check a load's real profit per hour with the load profit calculator, and to avoid facilities known for long waits when the rate doesn't cover them.

Collecting detention is part of what your dispatcher does with us. We put the terms on the rate con before you roll, track your times, send the claim with the invoice and follow up. Recovered detention is part of your gross, so our flat fee covers it too. See what our fee includes, or read the glossary entries for detention and free time.