Detention & Demurrage Cost Calculator — Waiting Time Cost Estimator

Calculate annual detention and demurrage costs across your shipping operations. Truck detention + ocean container demurrage — find what you're losing to waiting fees.

Quick answer: Truck detention: $75–$150/hr after 2 free hours. Ocean demurrage: $75–$250/day per container. Active shippers spend $50,000–$200,000+ annually in avoidable waiting fees.

⏱️ Detention & Demurrage Cost Calculator

Truck Loads Per Month

% Loads Incurring Detention

Avg Detention Hours

Detention Rate ($/hr)

Ocean Containers Per Month

% Containers Incurring Demurrage

Avg Excess Days Per Container

Demurrage Rate ($/day)

Annual Detention & Demurrage

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Monthly Truck Detention

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Monthly Ocean Demurrage

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How to Use This Calculator

Pull 3 months of carrier invoices — to find actual detention incidents, average hours, and rates.
Check ocean carrier invoices — for demurrage charges per container.
Use annual total to justify improvements — dock scheduling software, appointment systems, and yard management pay back fast against high detention bills.

Worked Example

80 loads/month, 15% detention at 1.5 hrs $85/hr. 10 containers, 20% demurrage at 3 days $150/day.

Monthly detention: 12 × 1.5 × $85 = $1,530
Monthly demurrage: 2 × 3 × $150 = $900
Annual: $29,160

A dock scheduling app ($200–$500/month) eliminates 50–70% of detention. At $29K annual cost, ROI is under 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Detention: truck waiting beyond free time at a dock ($50–$150/hr after 2 free hrs). Demurrage: ocean containers at port beyond free time ($75–$250+/day after 3–7 free days). Both are avoidable with better scheduling.

Appointment scheduling, live dock cameras for carrier visibility, pre-staged loads, cross-trained receiving staff at peak, and KPIs tracking door-to-door time.