Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Detention pay owed
$90.00
Billable hours (rounded)
2.00
Raw minutes over free time
120
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How to use this
- 1Enter total time at facility (min).
- 2Enter free time allowed (hr).
- 3Enter detention rate ($/hr).
- 4Enter billing increment.
- 5Read your detention pay owed on the right — it updates as you type.
- 6Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Most rate confirmations grant 1-2 hours of free time at pickup and delivery before detention pay kicks in, typically billed hourly after that. Drivers routinely under-claim detention because they don't track exact in/out times or don't know their contract's free-time threshold. This calculator takes your total time at a facility, subtracts the free hours, and multiplies the remainder by your detention rate, rounding to the billing increment most brokers use (often 15 or 30 minutes). Run this for every stop that ran long and you'll often find hundreds of dollars a month in unclaimed detention pay sitting on the table.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Total time at facility: 240 min
- Free time allowed: 2 hr
- Detention rate: 45 $/hr
- Billing increment: 30 minutes
Results
- Detention pay owed: $90.00
- Billable hours (rounded): 2
- Raw minutes over free time: 120
What each field means
Inputs
- Total time at facility (min)
- The total time at facility used in the calculation, measured in min. Starts at 240 min so you have a working example on load.
- Free time allowed (hr)
- The free time allowed used in the calculation, measured in hr. Starts at 2 hr so you have a working example on load.
- Detention rate ($/hr)
- The detention rate used in the calculation, measured in $/hr. Starts at 45 $/hr so you have a working example on load.
- Billing increment
- Pick the option that matches your situation — the maths changes per option. Choices: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, Full hour only.
Results
- Detention pay owed
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Billable hours (rounded)
- Returned as a decimal number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Raw minutes over free time
- Returned as a whole number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
Who pays detention — the broker or the shipper?
Contractually the broker or carrier you're under owes it to you, but they typically bill it upstream to the shipper who caused the delay. Your claim goes to whoever you have a rate agreement with, documented with in/out timestamps.
How do I prove detention time?
Use your ELD or dispatch app's automatic geofence timestamps for arrival and departure, plus a signed BOL time stamp if the facility provides one. Photos of a clock or your phone's time-stamped check-in message add backup if a dispute arises.
Do all loads get free time before detention starts?
Almost all rate confirmations specify it, commonly 1-2 hours combined for loading/unloading. Some brokers apply free time per stop, others per load — read the rate con language, since it changes the math meaningfully on multi-stop loads.
Is detention pay negotiable?
Yes, especially with brokers you run repeat freight for. Chronically slow shippers are a known cost center, and brokers will sometimes raise your detention rate or shorten free time to keep good carriers on a problem lane.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
Related tools
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Detention Pay Recovery Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/detention-pay-recovery
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/detention-pay-recovery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Detention Pay Recovery Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Detention Pay Recovery Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/detention-pay-recovery) (2026).