Truck Driver Detention Fee Calculator
Price driver detention at the dock by the hour — free window, tiered hourly rates and multi-stop totals.
Set a tier's hours to 0 to mean “all remaining hours”.
Industry custom is 2 free hours from the scheduled appointment. Rates here are per hour — set them to your contracted detention rate (commonly $40–$100/hr).
With your numbers: 5 hours − 2 free = 3 chargeable hours = 2×$50 + 1×$65 = $165 per stop.
Sources & references
- US DOT OIG — Estimates of detention's impact on the trucking industry (ST2018019)
- FMCSA Hours of Service regulations, 49 CFR Part 395
Demurrage, detention and storage tariffs are set by each carrier, terminal and contract and change frequently. The preloaded figures are editable industry-typical examples, not quotes — always verify against the current published tariff or your service contract before paying or disputing an invoice.
Driver detention is the fee a carrier charges when a truck is held at a shipper's or receiver's dock beyond the free loading window — almost universally two hours from the scheduled appointment. Unlike ocean demurrage, this is an hourly clock, and it exists because a detained driver burns hours-of-service that can kill the next load: DOT studies put detention's cost to US trucking in the billions per year.
About Truck Driver Detention Fee Calculator
Set your free hours and hourly tiers (many contracts use a flat $50–$75/hr; some escalate after hour four, which the default models), enter how long the truck actually sat, and the calculator prices the stop. The per-stop unit lets you total a multi-stop day — three two-hour delays at $65/hr is real money that should be on the invoice, not absorbed. Detention only gets paid when it's documented. The driver should capture arrival and departure times against the appointment (ELD screenshots, geofence logs, or a signed in/out time on the BOL). Notify the broker or customer in writing the moment the free window expires — most contracts make notice within 30–60 minutes a condition of payment.
How to use Truck Driver Detention Fee Calculator
- 1Enter hours at the dock and how many stops are affected.
- 2Set your free hours and edit the tariff tiers to match the published tariff or your contract — every figure is editable.
- 3Read the per-tier breakdown and the worked example showing exactly how the total is built, hour by hour.
- 4Change the inputs to compare scenarios (pick up now vs later) before the charges harden into an invoice.
Why use Truck Driver Detention Fee Calculator?
- ✓Per-tier breakdown mirrors how carrier and terminal billing systems itemise invoices
- ✓Every figure — free time, tier days, rates — is editable to match any published tariff
- ✓Instant what-if comparisons before charges harden into an invoice
- ✓Free and private — all math runs in your browser
Frequently asked questions
What is a normal free time before truck detention applies?+
Two hours from the scheduled appointment time is the near-universal standard in US truckload contracts, occasionally 90 minutes for drop trailers or 3 hours at known-slow facilities. The clock runs from the appointment, not arrival — showing up early doesn't usually start it sooner.
How much should detention pay per hour?+
Common contracted rates run $40–$100 per hour; $50–$65 is typical for dry van. With the default tiers (2 free hours, then $50/$65/$85), a truck stuck 5 hours is owed 2 × $50 + 1 × $65 = $165 — roughly what the tractor costs to simply exist for that time.
What documentation gets detention invoices paid?+
Time-stamped proof of arrival and departure (ELD/telematics record or signed BOL times), the appointment confirmation, and written notice to the broker when free time expired. Photos of the dock queue help. Without an arrival timestamp tied to the appointment, most shippers will simply refuse the accessorial.
Does detention count against hours of service?+
Yes — time waiting at a dock is on-duty (or sleeper/off-duty if the driver is released from the truck, which is rare in practice). That's exactly why detention is charged: a 4-hour delay can push the driver past the 14-hour window and cost the carrier the next revenue load, not just the wasted afternoon.
Embed Truck Driver Detention Fee Calculator on your website
Want Truck Driver Detention Fee Calculatoron your own site? Paste this snippet into any HTML page — it's free, with no API key or sign-up. The tool loads in an iframe and keeps working exactly as it does here.
<iframe src="https://tooljolt.com/tools/truck-detention-fee-calculator" width="100%" height="640" style="border:1px solid #e5e7eb;border-radius:12px;max-width:680px" title="Truck Driver Detention Fee Calculator — ToolJolt" loading="lazy"></iframe>Related Logistics tools
Demurrage Calculator (Ocean Containers)
Work out ocean container demurrage from free days and a tiered terminal tariff — with a per-tier breakdown.
● LiveContainer Detention (Per Diem) Calculator
Calculate detention / per-diem owed on containers gated out but not yet returned empty to the depot.
● LiveChassis Per-Diem Calculator
Track daily chassis usage charges from pool or leasing-company tariffs, with split billing tiers.
● Live