Detention is one of the most common ways an owner-operator loses time without getting paid for it — not because the hours are hard to add up, but because the claim is easy to dispute. This guide is about the part that actually gets you paid: the rate confirmation, the timestamps, the notice you give while you are still sitting, and a complete invoice line after you are released. For the arithmetic itself, use the free detention pay calculator; the hours only matter if the paperwork can support them.
What detention is — and what it is not
Detention is time your truck is held at a shipper or receiver beyond the free time in your agreement for that load. It is not a layover, a truck-ordered-not-used, or a lumper fee. Those are separate items with their own terms. Mixing them up on an invoice is a fast way to have a claim denied, even when the underlying delay was real.
Two things decide whether the hours are billable: when the clock is agreed to start, and how long it runs before detention begins. Both live in the rate confirmation for that specific load. There is no industry-wide free-time number that applies to every broker and every dock. A figure that held on your last load does not carry over to the next one. Read the rate con before you accept, because that document — not custom, and not what someone at the truck stop said — is what a claim is measured against.
The hours are the easy part
The formula is straightforward: time from arrival to release, minus the free hours in the agreement, times the detention rate on the rate confirmation. If the result is zero or less, the stop ran inside free time and there is nothing to bill. You can run those numbers on the free detention pay calculator, which uses arrival and release dates and times — not time-only fields — so an overnight hold does not compute as a negative. The calculator is an estimate. It does not mean the broker will pay. That depends on the agreement and on their approval.
If the rate confirmation is silent on detention, you generally have no contractual claim to it. That is the reason to check before you accept, not after you have been sitting for six hours. If detention is listed but the rate or the free time is unclear, get a clarification in writing before you hook.
What you need to actually get paid
Detention is disputed more often than it is refused outright, and disputes are won on records. What tends to matter:
- •Times written down when they happened. An arrival time you noted at the gate carries weight. One you reconstructed from memory a week later does not. Log check-in and check-out when they occur, on your phone or on paper, with the date.
- •Signed, timestamped paperwork. Bills of lading, gate or check-in records, warehouse stamps, or in-and-out times the facility itself produced. Your log and their paperwork together are stronger than either one alone.
- •Notice while you are still sitting. Telling the broker as the clock runs is a different conversation from an invoice that arrives three weeks later. Many agreements expect you to notify them when you go on detention. Do it in a way you can prove — a message or email, not only a phone call.
- •A claim filed the way your agreement says. Some rate confirmations set a window (a number of hours or days) and a format for detention claims. Miss either and a valid claim can still be denied. Put the detention on its own invoice line, with the times and the rate, rather than rounding it into the linehaul.
At the dock: a practical sequence
When you arrive, record the time and get in line or checked in the way that facility works. Photograph or keep the gate ticket if there is one. If you are approaching the end of free time, notify the broker then, not after you are already hours over. When you are released, record that time the same way. If a receiver will sign a timestamped POD, make sure the times are correct before you leave the yard — correcting them later is much harder.
Do not rely on the facility to “put it on the paperwork” for you. Some will; many will not, or the times will be incomplete. Your contemporaneous notes are the backup if theirs are thin.
Putting detention on the invoice
After delivery, invoice the linehaul as agreed and add detention as a separate line with the in and out times, the free hours, the rate, and the amount. Attach the same evidence you would want if you had to explain the claim to someone who was not there. For the rest of the invoice packet — POD, BOL, identifiers — see how to invoice a broker as an owner-operator.
If the broker disputes the hours, answer with the timestamps and the language from the rate con, not with a general complaint about the dock. If they offer a shorter amount, you can accept, decline, or keep documenting; that is a business decision, not something a calculator can make for you.
How TruxSheet helps
TruxSheet lets you log arrival and release from your phone at the dock, so the times are on the record when they happened instead of in your memory a week later. The hours can be worked out from those times using the same formula as the public calculator. You still have to check the rate confirmation and submit the claim the way your agreement requires — the app does not collect from the broker for you. You can try TruxSheet for 7 days with no credit card.
Frequently asked questions
How many free hours do I get before detention starts?
Whatever your rate confirmation says for that load. Free time is negotiated per load and varies by broker, shipper, and commodity. There is no single number that applies to everyone.
What detention rate should I bill?
The rate on your rate confirmation. If the rate confirmation is silent on detention, you generally have no contractual claim to it. Do not invent a rate and put it on the invoice.
Does calculating the hours mean I will get paid?
No. The arithmetic only tells you what the hours work out to under the numbers you entered. Payment depends on your agreement and on the broker’s or shipper’s approval. Documentation and timely notice matter more than the calculator.
What if the facility will not stamp my times?
Keep your own contemporaneous log anyway, and save whatever the facility does produce (gate tickets, check-in screens, signed PODs). Notify the broker while you are still there. A missing facility stamp makes a claim harder; it is not a reason to skip your own records.
Should detention be a separate line on the invoice?
Yes. A separate line with times, free hours, rate, and amount is easier to approve than a linehaul total that no longer matches the rate confirmation.