What are Detention and Demurrage?

Detention and demurrage are the two most common — and most avoidable — accessorial charges in drayage, both essentially penalties for holding something too long. The distinction is what is being held and where.

Demurrage is charged by the terminal or ocean carrier when an import container sits at the marine terminal beyond its allotted free time, or when an export container arrives too early. It is, in effect, rent on the container occupying valuable terminal ground. Detention is charged when the equipment — the container and chassis — is kept outside the terminal beyond the free time allowed for it to be returned, or when a driver is held too long loading or unloading at a shipper's or consignee's dock.

A useful shorthand: demurrage is the clock running while the box is inside the terminal; detention is the clock running while the box (or the driver) is outside it. Both accrue daily and add up fast, which is why free-time management and fast turn times are central to profitable drayage.