Building the detention file before the charge is billed
Detention on domestic truckload is contractual, not rated by rule, so what is owed comes from the rate confirmation and nothing else. That makes the fight evidentiary. Arrival and departure need a source that is not the memory of a driver: in and out times written on the bill of lading, the gate log where the facility keeps one, the X3 and D1 timestamps on a 214, and the dwell the visibility provider recorded. The pack builds at invoicing from what already exists, and it should say which free time terms it is reading.
The same seven facts about a load get typed into the system, then onto the bill of lading, then onto the invoice.
Volume freight moves on electronic data interchange rather than on modern interfaces. A tender goes out, a response comes back accepting or rejecting it, status messages flow during transit, and an invoice closes it. That much is standardised. Almost everything around it is not.
- McLeod PowerBroker
- Descartes MacroPoint
- EDI over a VAN
When this is the wrong thing to build
Pick something else if your rate confirmations say detention per the standard policy of the carrier, because then there is no term to prove against and the pack has nothing to measure. Fix the wording first. Building evidence around an open ended clause makes a tidier file and changes no outcome.
The constraint that shapes it
Driving time is federally limited, recorded electronically, and structured as a daily driving limit inside a longer on-duty window after a required rest period, with a weekly ceiling on top. More on how this sector works.
A deadline arrives. The bundle builds itself from what is already there. Read what this shape is, or start from one of these.
- Building a commission disbursement authorization at closing
- Drafting a seller net sheet from a payoff statement
- Building a demand package the adjuster can actually open
- Filling a mandatory form set from the matter record
- Drafting the disbursement statement behind a settlement payment
- Getting the job photos onto the invoice before it sends
- What proof does a broker need to pay a detention charge?
- Do in and out times on the bill of lading count?
- How do I prove dwell time without a gate log?
- When does free time start at a shipper under a rate confirmation?
- Can EDI 214 timestamps support a detention claim?
Back to logistics and freight, or see how this is priced and scoped.