Appointments, detention and how both sides avoid them

Guide · 3 min read

Detention is the charge for keeping a truck waiting past the free time agreed in the rate confirmation, commonly two hours at each stop. Nobody likes paying it, and no driver wants to earn it, because a truck sitting at a dock is a truck that is not moving. Most of it can be avoided.

• Set appointments the truck can actually make. A 6 a.m. pickup 600 miles from the last delivery does not work under hours-of-service rules, no matter how good the driver is.
• Share real dock hours. If first-come, first-served really means “before noon or tomorrow,” say so in the tender.
• Flag check-in rules up front. PO numbers, reference numbers, gate procedures and anything else security will ask for.
• Talk early. If product will not be ready, a call two hours before the appointment saves everyone a wasted trip.

On our side, we send ETAs before every stop, call ahead if we are running behind, and make sure in and out times are recorded on the paperwork. Clear times protect you as much as they protect us.