Operations
Detention & demurrage
Work out detention, demurrage and per diem from your company's rates, and add the result to the load as a charge.
Waiting costs money. A truck waits at a dock (detention). A container sits at the terminal past its last free day (demurrage). A container or chassis stays out too long (per diem). The calculator on each load works these out from your company's own rates and adds the result as a charge, so it lands on the invoice.
- Where
- Load record › Detention & demurrage section
- Who sees it
- Anyone who can open the load (Loads · view)
- Who adds a charge
- Loads · edit
- Rates set on
- Company profile › Operating rules (Company · edit)
- Audited
- charge.accessorial
The three calculations
| Tab | What you enter | How it is worked out | Charge type it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detention | Arrived (date and time), Left (date and time) | Time at the stop minus the free time, rounded up to 15-minute steps, times the hourly rate. Capped per stop if your company set a cap. | Detention |
| Demurrage | Picked up (date). The last free day is read from the load. | Days after the last free day until pickup, times the daily rate. | Storage |
| Per diem | Out on (date), Empty back (date; blank means still out, so today) | Days out minus the free days, times the daily rate. | Per Diem |
Each tab shows the amount and the working, for example "3 days after the last free day (2026-11-02) × $150". That sentence is saved as the charge's note.
Your company's rates
The owner or an admin sets these on Company profile under Operating rules. Until changed, the defaults are:
| Rule | Default | Allowed range |
|---|---|---|
| Detention free time | 2 hours | 0–24 hours |
| Detention rate per hour | $75 | $0–$1,000 |
| Detention cap per stop | $0 (no cap) | $0–$10,000 |
| Demurrage per day | $150 | $0–$5,000 |
| Per diem free days | 4 days | 0–60 days |
| Per diem per day | $75 | $0–$5,000 |
Add a charge
Open the load
Scroll to Detention & demurrage.Pick the tab
Detention, Demurrage or Per diem.Enter the times or dates
The amount and how it was worked out appear.Choose Bill to
Customer, Carrier, Warehouse, Sales Agent or Other.Press Add as charge
The charge is added to the load, a line goes into the activity feed, and a message shows the amount.
The server works the amount out again from the saved rates. It never trusts a figure typed in the browser.
When nothing is added
| Message | Why |
|---|---|
| This load has no last free day, so there is no demurrage to count. | Set the last free day on the load first. |
| Nothing to charge: Picked up by the last free day… | The container was picked up in time. |
| Nothing to charge: Stayed 1h 30m, inside 2h free | The truck left within the free time. |
| Nothing to charge: Out 3 days, inside 4 free | The equipment came back within the free days. |
| It left before it arrived. Check the times. | The Left time is before the Arrived time. |
Changing or removing the charge
The charge appears under Charges on the load like any other. You can edit or remove it there until it is on an invoice. After that, use a debit or credit note.