How to track detention time and actually get paid for it
The agent tracks arrival and departure times, catches when a driver was held past free time, and builds the detention invoice with the evidence.
- Reach it by
- Text
- Phone
- Who can use it
- Your drivers and dispatchers
- Works in
- Your ELD or GPS tracking, such as Samsara, Motive or Geotab · Your rate cons · QuickBooks · Your dispatch email and text line
The problem
Your driver sits at a shipper for five hours. Free time was two. Nobody wrote down the check-in time, so the detention never gets billed.
When you do bill it, the broker asks for proof. Without timestamps and the rate con terms in one place, it's easier to let it go. Those hours add up to real money every month.
What your agent does
- Driver checks in and out by textOr times from your ELD or GPS
- Free time and rate from the rate con
- Your agent watches the clockWarns dispatch before free time runs out
- Broker notified on timeThe notice most rate cons require
- Detention invoice builtTimes, signed papers and rate con terms attached
- Dispatcher approves before it's sent
What you get
- Every stop logged with arrival and departure times
- Brokers notified before detention starts, as the rate con requires
- Detention invoices with the evidence attached
- A monthly total of detention billed and collected
Who approves what
A dispatcher or the owner approves each detention invoice before it goes to the broker. You can let the routine broker notice go out on its own when free time is running out.
Common questions
- Do my drivers have to do anything new?
- If you have ELD or GPS data the agent can read, no. Otherwise they text "in" and "out" at each stop, and the agent reminds them if they forget.
- What if the broker disputes it?
- The agent sends the timestamps, signed papers and rate con terms. If they still push back, it goes to your dispatcher to handle.
More for trucking & logistics
Paperwork to invoice the same day
Rate cons, BOLs and PODs arrive by photo or email. The agent matches them, builds the invoice packet and sends it to your factor the day the load delivers.
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