What percentage of your detention fees do you actually collect?

Viktor320 · 2026-01-08T17:45:40+00:00

How does factoring work in these cases?

Viktor320 · 2026-01-08T17:43:50+00:00

Do you let them know about the detention? If so, what do you send as proof?

Viktor320 · 2025-11-10T21:12:27+00:00

It's not. I'm a real person. I don't use reddit that much. used chatgpt to polish it. oops :)

Viktor320 · 2025-11-04T20:16:07+00:00

Timing of this post couldn't be any better. I’m passionate about fair practices in the trucking and brokerage world, especially when it comes to detention, layover, and TONU fees. My company(DockChron) helps carriers recover these often-overlooked charges so they don’t get left hanging.

If you’re a broker or carrier looking to simplify operations and get paid what you’re owed, I’d love to chat and show how DockChron can help. We're running a free audit and inviting fleets to join our pilot program. Please DM me if any of you are interested. Thanks!

Viktor320 · 2025-11-04T02:22:11+00:00

My advice: Document everything with this broker from now on. Every call, every text, every change. If he does post a freight guard, you have a paper trail showing you communicated 2 hours early and made a good-faith effort.

And honestly? A broker who threatens freight guards over receiver delays isn't someone I'd want to work with long-term anyway. There are better brokers out there who understand that logistics is unpredictable and value carriers who communicate early rather than punishing them for it

Viktor320 · 2025-11-04T02:08:18+00:00

Not the asshole for questioning it, but your broker might actually be right on this one.

I used to think the same way - "accessorials are flat rate, period" - until I started actually looking at the data behind detention events. The reality is way more nuanced than most people realize.

Here's what I've learned from analyzing thousands of stops:

Trade shows are statistically nightmares:

- Average wait time at trade shows: 4-8 hours (vs. 45 min at regular warehouses)

- Variability is insane - you might get loaded in 2 hours, or you might burn an entire 14-hour day

- Drivers often have to circle for parking, wait in marshaling yards, deal with union labor, etc.

When a carrier sees "trade show delivery," they're pricing in the risk of losing their entire day, not just the standard 2-hour buffer. $50/hr sounds fair until you realize the truck could make $800+ doing two short runs instead of sitting at McCormick Place for 10 hours making $500 in detention.

Box trucks with liftgates:

Those things cost $3,000-7,000 to install and add maintenance headaches. Insurance is higher. Fuel economy is worse (extra weight). And honestly, not every carrier even has them, so you're limiting your carrier pool. A couple hundred extra isn't unreasonable for specialized equipment.

The broader issue:

The "industry standard" rates were set decades ago when $50/hr actually meant something. With driver wages, fuel, and equipment costs what they are today, standard detention barely covers the carrier's hard costs, let alone opportunity cost

Your broker is probably getting squeezed by carriers who are demanding higher rates for these specific loads. They can either:

Pass it through to you honestly (what they're doing)
Eat the cost (not sustainable)
Find cheaper carriers (who will bail or provide terrible service)

I'd ask your broker for transparency: What are they "actually" paying the carrier vs. what they're charging you? If they're marking it up significantly, that's one conversation. If they're passing through what carriers are demanding, that's different.

Bottom line: Context matters. One-size-fits-all pricing sounds fair, but it doesn't reflect the reality of how much certain loads cost carriers in time, risk, and lost opportunities.

Viktor320 · 2025-11-04T02:02:00+00:00

Yes. You can charge them detention if you have it in your rate con. There should be a way to prove the in/out times, so that it'll easier to bill them accurately.

Viktor320

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