Detention pay compensates a driver (or owner-operator) for time spent waiting at a shipper or receiver beyond a contractually-defined "free time." It's one of the most-disputed line items in trucking because shippers, brokers, and carriers all have incentives to minimize it.
Standard terms
Most freight contracts allow 2 hours of "free time" for loading and 2 hours for unloading. Beyond free time, detention pay typically starts at $25 to $50/hour for company drivers and $50 to $100/hour for owner-operators. Some shippers cap detention at 6 to 8 hours; beyond the cap, they may require the load to be re-scheduled.
How to track it
Document your arrival time at the gate or guard shack (not your appointment time, not your dock-assignment time — your physical arrival). Take a timestamped photo of the gate sign or the dock door. Document your departure time the same way. Many ELDs automatically log detention by recording on-duty-not-driving status while at a shipper or receiver. Keep BOL stamps and any "detention sheet" the shipper provides.
How to claim it
Submit detention claims to your carrier or broker within the contractual deadline (usually 7 to 14 days after the load is delivered). Include: BOL with arrival and departure stamps; ELD log printout for the day; detention sheet if provided; and any photographic evidence. Carriers and brokers will deny claims missing any of these elements; clean documentation gets paid.
Why detention disputes happen
The shipper pays the broker, the broker pays the carrier, the carrier pays the driver. Each layer can dispute or absorb detention claims, and weak documentation gets rejected at any layer. Owner-operators who haul direct for shippers (no broker) typically have the cleanest detention recovery because there's only one layer between the load and the pay.
If detention isn't paid
If a shipper or broker consistently denies legitimate detention claims, escalate to your carrier's customer-service team and consider declining future loads from that shipper. Patterns of detention abuse often indicate broader problems — slow loading, poor scheduling, undertrained dock personnel — that will continue to cost you time. Read our OTR/regional/local comparison.