Billing
94.5% of carriers say they charge detention, and fewer than half of those invoices are paid. That is not a collections problem. It is a documentation problem with a collections symptom, and both sides lose — the carrier absorbs the cost, and the paying side spends hours disputing charges it would sometimes have accepted. For a software-oriented reference on recorded work time and accountability, mouse jiggler detection software.
A defensible claim has six elements, none of which requires software: two independent timestamps, the contract clause quoted, the arithmetic shown, notification sent at free-time expiry, the load reference, and submission inside the window. The fourth changes outcomes most and is the one most often missing — it converts a charge from an accusation into a documented event, and occasionally prevents it entirely. For broader freight and commercial context, see American Transportation Research Institute.
On the ocean side there is a rule with real teeth. 46 CFR Part 541 requires an invoice to let the billed party independently verify the container, the period and the calculation, within a thirty-day issuance window. A non-compliant or late invoice removes the obligation to pay as issued — a stronger position than any argument about the facts, and it costs a minute to check.
One provision fell. The D.C. Circuit vacated 46 CFR 541.4 on 23 September 2025 for internal inconsistency, so who may be invoiced is now a contract term rather than a regulation. Everything else survived.
And free time and rate are separate levers that almost everyone negotiates as one, which is why so many arrangements suit neither party. Set the allowance from the operation rather than from a market average — an allowance at the mean guarantees roughly half your loads breach it.
The section also covers the charges that are time under other names. Layover, truck order not used, redelivery and driver-assist waiting are all dwell, billed separately and usually paid without the scrutiny detention receives. Added up by cause per facility, the total is commonly several times the detention line anyone has been arguing about.
Accessorials That Hide Time
Half the accessorial schedule is detention under another name. Which charges are really time, and why that matters at renewal.
A Defensible Detention Claim
Six elements, assembled at the time rather than at invoicing. What to send, when to send it, and what makes a claim indefensible.
Demurrage Is Not Detention
Two charges, two locations, two rate structures and two regulatory positions. Using the wrong word costs money in both directions.
Why Detention Invoices Go Unpaid
Almost every carrier bills detention and fewer than half of those invoices are paid. The reasons are documentary, and mostly fixable.
The FMC Billing Rule, Plainly
What 46 CFR Part 541 requires, what a court struck down in 2025, and the provision that still lets you refuse a bad invoice.
Free Time, and Negotiating It
Free time and rate are separate levers that almost everyone conflates. Four combinations, and which lanes each one suits.
The Thirty-Day Windows
Two clocks decide whether a charge is enforceable and whether your dispute counts. Both work in your favour only if someone tracks them.
When to Write It Off
Chasing a bad claim costs more than the claim. Five signals to stop, and how to write off without losing the underlying position.
Who Gets Billed Now
The federal restriction on billing parties is gone. What replaced it is your contract, and most contracts do not address it.