How do you calculate truck detention cost?

Multiply chargeable detention hours by the detention rate and the billable share to get variable cost, then add fixed admin cost. At 14 hours, $85/hr, 100% billable and $125 admin, variable is $1,190 and total is $1,315.

What is a typical truck detention rate?

Dry van detention commonly runs $50-$100 per hour after two hours of free time; the $85 default sits mid-range. Reefer and specialized equipment charge more, and many contracts cap the daily total.

When does detention start accruing?

After the contractual free time — usually the first two hours at a dock. Only hours beyond free time are chargeable, so the 14 hours here should already exclude the free window.

What is the billable detention share for?

It scales the charge to the portion you can actually invoice after disputes or shared responsibility. At 100% you bill it all; drop it to 70% if you expect to concede part of the claim in settlement.

Why is my detention cost per hour higher than the rate I entered?

The fixed admin cost is spread across the billed hours. Here the $125 admin charge adds about $9 per hour, lifting the $85 rate to a blended $93.93 per hour.

How do I reduce detention charges?

Attack dwell time: appointment scheduling, drop-and-hook, and live-load staging cut chargeable hours directly. Trimming those 14 hours to 6 would drop total cost from $1,315 to about $635.

Transportation, Freight & Distribution calculator

Truck Detention Cost Calculator

Truck Detention Cost is the money owed when a truck is held at a dock beyond its free time — the accessorial that turns a slow shipping or receiving dock into a real line item on the freight bill. Carriers, shippers and freight settlement teams use it to bill detention accurately, forecast accessorial spend, and build the business case for faster dock turns. It matters because detention is one of the most disputed charges in freight: carriers lose money when trucks sit idle, and shippers get blindsided by accessorials they could have prevented with better dock scheduling. Putting a hard number on it ends the argument and drives dock behavior.

What this calculator does

Estimate detention charges from chargeable detention hours, hourly detention rate, billable share, and fixed admin or appointment fees.
Use it to quantify dock delays, support appointment scheduling changes, or dispute detention charges with carriers.
It computes total detention cost by multiplying chargeable hours by the hourly rate and billable share, then adding a fixed admin charge.

Formula used

Variable truck detention cost = chargeable detention hours × detention rate × billable detention share
Total truck detention cost = variable truck detention cost + fixed detention admin cost

Inputs explained

Chargeable detention hours:
Detention rate:
Billable detention share:
Fixed detention admin cost:

How to use the result

Use it when billing or auditing a detention accessorial, forecasting dock-driven freight cost, or justifying investment in dock scheduling.
It assumes a single flat hourly rate, but many contracts use tiered or capped detention (for example, a daily maximum), which this straight-line model will overstate on long holds.

Current U.S. benchmarks

On-highway diesel averages $4.58 per gallon this week (EIA), trending down over recent periods. Truck tonnage is up 3.4% year over year (ATA via FRED).

Common questions

How do you calculate truck detention cost? Multiply chargeable detention hours by the detention rate and the billable share to get variable cost, then add fixed admin cost. At 14 hours, $85/hr, 100% billable and $125 admin, variable is $1,190 and total is $1,315.
What is a typical truck detention rate? Dry van detention commonly runs $50-$100 per hour after two hours of free time; the $85 default sits mid-range. Reefer and specialized equipment charge more, and many contracts cap the daily total.
When does detention start accruing? After the contractual free time — usually the first two hours at a dock. Only hours beyond free time are chargeable, so the 14 hours here should already exclude the free window.
What is the billable detention share for? It scales the charge to the portion you can actually invoice after disputes or shared responsibility. At 100% you bill it all; drop it to 70% if you expect to concede part of the claim in settlement.
Why is my detention cost per hour higher than the rate I entered? The fixed admin cost is spread across the billed hours. Here the $125 admin charge adds about $9 per hour, lifting the $85 rate to a blended $93.93 per hour.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.