How do you charge detention without losing the customer?

Why detention gets waived

Most carriers have detention in their rates. Few bill it every time. The driver says he waited, the customer says he did not, nobody has proof, and the account manager writes it off to keep the peace.

The problem is not the charge. It is the evidence.

Get the times right first

Every stop needs two timestamps: when the driver arrived and when he left loaded or empty. They should come from the driver's milestones or the ELD, not from memory at the end of the week.

Then tie those times to the customer's account and the facility. After a month, you will know which docks make your drivers wait and by how long. Often it is a handful of sites, not the whole customer.

Put the terms in writing

Agree the free time, the hourly rate and how it is calculated before the first load, and put it on the rate confirmation. Make sure the customer's shipping desk knows, not just the person who signed the contract.

Talk about the account, not the invoice

Bring the dwell data to the customer as a report: these sites, these average waits, this many hours a month. Then offer options. They can pay detention, move appointment times, change service windows, or accept a new rate for that lane.

Many customers do not know their dock is slow. The report gives their own team a reason to fix it, and it moves the talk from blame to numbers.

When the customer will not change

Some accounts lose money every week because of waits. Once you can see that, you can reprice them or let them go on purpose, rather than carrying them because you did not know.