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Detention and Accessorial Billing

Detention billing that lays the geofence, the driver app, the receiver's stamp and the gate log on one dial, reads the customer's clause as written, and bills only the minutes it can prove.

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Follow one grocery stop from dock to signed bill ↓
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The problem

The truck waited from before dawn, and the customer paid to its own stamp

The driver checks in at the guard shack, waits for a door, unloads and gets the bills stamped. The geofence, the driver's taps, the receiver's handwriting and the facility's gate log each record that stay a little differently, and none of them sits in the same system as the customer's contract.

By the time billing sees the stop, nobody has the minutes to rebuild it. The easiest time to find goes on the invoice with nothing attached, the notice that should have gone during free time may never have gone, and the customer's payables team pays to its receiver's stamp or not at all.

Weeks later a short-pay arrives with a one-line code. Someone tries to answer it without the stop's records, and what cannot be proved gets written off.

Built forBilling specialistsBilling managersDispatchersControllers

The Problem Today

Trucks sit at customer docks for hours, but the minutes live in four separate records and the customer pays on only one of them.

<50%
of detention invoices get paid, fleets told industry researchers published
$3.6B
direct cost of truck driver detention in 2023, same research published

Rebuilt from scattered records

  • ELD times
  • Stamp photo
  • Clauses
  • Notice mail
  • The notice went too lateWhen the clause requires one, a missed notice loses the charge
  • Billed on the wrong clockInvoiced on the driver's time, paid on the receiver's

The Solution

  1. Four records on one dialGeofence, driver app, receiver's stamp and gate log, each gap marked
  2. The clause checked condition by conditionFree time, its start, steps, cap and notice ticked against the evidence
  3. The receiving dock's side arguedA challenger raises what the receiver would, before the bill exists
  4. A second person signsThe checker opens the clock, the stamped bill and the notice first

Built-in controls

  • Nobody signs a charge they proposed
  • Facility notes change nothing until someone reads them
  • Only the billing manager can waive a charge

What You Get

Detention goes out on the time the customer's own clause counts, with the stamped bill and the notice attached.

  • Notices sent inside free timeDispatch sees each truck's clock and when its notice is due
  • Short-pays met with the recordThe remittance code answered with the header or the stamp
  • Each customer's proof rememberedRules learned from rulings, applied once the manager approves
Features

Detention billing features on one stop, dock clock to second signature

Billing specialists prove and propose each stop past free time; the billing manager rules on waivers and signs.

demoThe carrier, the grocery customer, the driver, the stops and the dollar amounts are sample data.

  1. 01Dock clock

    Truck detention time proved from four clocks on one dial

    • Geofence, driver app, stamp and gate log. Each record draws its own ring with in and out times, so you see what each source supports before anything is billed.
    • Every disagreement shown with both times. Where two clocks disagree, the dial marks the gap with both times, so you choose the time to bill before the customer's payables team does.
    • Billable time drawn in steps. Free time is shaded and each billable step is its own wedge, so the amount checks by counting.
  2. 02Dispute desk

    Detention disputes argued from the receiving dock's side before billing

    • Six objections a receiver would raise. Yard time before the appointment, the stamp, late check-in, the notice, door calls and early arrival are each answered, conceded or handed to a person.
    • The agents' own draft challenged. The challenger tests the first draft too, so a wrong free-time start or end time is corrected before anyone signs it.
    • Concessions where the stamp governs. When the clause measures to the receiver's signature, the charge drops to the stamp's time, the one the customer's payables team pays on.
  3. 03Free-time notice

    Free-time notice sent in writing to the contact the contract names

    • Sent before free time ends. The notice goes while the truck is still inside free time, so a clause that requires written notice before it ends is met on the record.
    • Full headers kept as proof. Sent time, recipient and the receiving server's acceptance are kept, so a short-pay coded no notice received is answered with the record.
    • Address from the contract's notice clause. No typed address is used, so the notice reaches the desk the customer agreed to.
  4. 04Stamped bill

    Receiver's stamp on the bill of lading read for its in and out times

    • Handwritten times read with a confidence. The stamp's in and out times come off the driver's photo, flagged where the handwriting is uncertain.
    • Each source opened at the passage used. Clause, notice, geofence events, driver app record, gate log, load tender and draft invoice open with the passage that mattered highlighted.
  5. 05Options

    Bill to the stamp, bill to the driver app, or waive, compared by collection

    • Each choice played on payment history. How this customer has paid when billed to its own stamp and past it gives an expected collection for each option.
    • A month-long waiver priced. A waiver sales asks for shows the proved detention and expected collection it would give up.
    • Assumptions you edit. The paid-on-stamp and paid-past-stamp rates come from the customer's history, and changing either moves every expected amount.
  6. 06Steer

    Mid-run steer adds a look-back over a customer's stops against their stamps

    • Steer the agents in plain words. Type what you know while they work, and the plan gains a step, logged under your name with the time.
    • A look-back over the customer's billed stops. The agents add a check of that customer's stops billed this month against the receiver's stamp, the time its payables team pays on.
  7. 07Propose

    Detention charge proposed under a reason code, in the specialist's words

    • Coded reason plus written reason. Nothing is pre-filled, so the trail shows why this amount was chosen, in the words of the person who chose it.
    • Stamped bill and notice attached. The charge carries what the clause asks for: signed in and out times and the written notice.
    • A different person signs. A second billing specialist or the billing manager signs before it is sent, and the maker cannot.
  8. 08Waiver

    Detention waiver requests from sales ruled on by the billing manager

    • Sales asks, the billing manager decides. An account manager can request a waiver but cannot approve one, and the bill for that customer waits for the ruling.
    • The request and the options opened first. Approve and decline stay off until the manager has opened what sales wrote and what the waiver would cost.
    • Commercial reasons on the record. Codes such as no business reason to waive, or agreed at renewal, record why a concession was made or refused.
  9. 09Second signature

    Second signature after the dock clock, stamped bill and notice are opened

    • Open what you check. Sign stays disabled until each piece of evidence is opened, and each opening is logged.
    • The signature's meaning written out. The checker signs to having opened the clock, the bill and the notice, and to approving this amount under the clause.
    • Larger bills go to the manager. Above the signing limit set for detention bills, only the billing manager can sign.

Billing, its manager, dispatch and the controller around each detained stop

One detained stop passes through four desks: the dock, the bill, the waiver, the books.

Billing specialists

Each stop past free time: the clock, the clause, the charge and the short-pay answer

  • Four records of the stay on one dial
  • The receiver's objections answered before billing
  • A second person to sign
Billing managers

Waivers, write-offs, learned rules, settings and bills over the signing limit

  • The clock, bill and notice opened before they sign
  • Customer rules drafted from past rulings
  • Waivers that wait for their decision
Dispatchers

Trucks at the dock, free time left, and the notice before it runs out

  • Each truck's clock against its free time
  • The notice time worked out from the clause
  • Contacts picked from the contract
Controllers

Detention and accessorial revenue billed with proof, and what is left unbilled

  • Unbilled stops sorted by reason
  • Short-pays answered with the record
  • Write-offs only on the manager's signature
Around the stop

Live docks, gate logs, short-pays and a month of accessorial charges

What dispatch, the requests desk, collections and the auditor see on the same day.

Live docksTen trucks at customer docks, with free time left or minutes past it and when each notice goes. A ship-to with no notice contact waits for dispatch to pick one.
Gate log requestedRequests to facilities for gate logs and stamps, with where each address came from. Replies change a stop only through fixed fields, and each free-time notice sent today is listed.
Why stops went unbilledThe sample fleet's October before this run: 1,180 stops past free time, 742 billed with complete proof, 438 not. Each reason carries its fix, such as asking for gate logs.
Short-pays on extra charges18 open short-pays on detention and other accessorial charges, $2,138.75. The responder finds the record that answers each, and a person proposes the answer or a write-off.
Rule learned from rulingsFour of the billing manager's rulings on one customer become a proposed rule: bill to its own stamp, with the stamped bill attached. Rules in use name who approved them.
Audit trailSteer, look-back, proposal, declined waiver, each document opened and the signature, timed and explained. An auditor can export it as a CSV, or as the evidence binder for this stop.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

The agents

Seven agents rebuild the stay, and none of them can waive or send a charge

They read, ask and argue; each stops at a line written into its job.

Clock keeper

Lays the four clocks on one dial and marks each gap with both times.

  • Never picks a time without its source
  • Never reads a driver's location outside the customer's geofence
Clause reader

Reads the customer's detention clause as written, condition by condition.

  • Never fills a missing term with a default
Notice and requests agent

Sends the free-time notice at the lead time and asks facilities for gate logs and stamps.

  • Never uses a typed address
  • Never changes a stop on a free-text reply
Charge builder

Computes the steps and the amount and drafts the line with the proof attached.

  • Never sends an invoice before a second person signs it
Receiving dock challenger

Plays the receiving office against each draft: stamp, gate, door calls, yard.

  • Never calls a receiver or customer unfair
  • Never drops a point without a cited answer or a person
Recovery analyst

Plays the options forward on payment history and proposes rules from rulings.

  • Never applies a rule before the billing manager approves
Short-pay responder

Reads remittances, finds the record that answers each short-pay and drafts the answer.

  • Never threatens a customer or gives a legal view

Waivers, write-offs and any step to collect stay with the billing manager

The agents draft answers that quote the contract and the records; a named manager, specialist or counsel makes each call below.

Waiving a chargeA commercial concession, decided by the billing manager with a reason. A sales request or a steer only makes it pending.
Writing off a short-payProposed by a billing specialist and approved by the billing manager.
Signing a billA second billing specialist or the billing manager, once each piece of evidence is open; the maker cannot sign their own.
A legal step to collectThe billing manager's and counsel's call. No agent offers a legal view.
Who was right at the doorWhen a facility writes that the driver ignored a door call, a named person reads it and records what was checked.

What carrier billing managers ask about detention billing

What is detention billing?

Detention billing is how a carrier charges a customer for the time a truck waits at a dock beyond the free time in the contract. This solution proves each stop's minutes from four records, reads the customer's clause, sends the notice in time, and bills with the stamped bill and the notice attached.

Which clock does it bill to?

The one the customer's clause names. When the contract is silent, the order is the receiver's stamp, then the gate log, then the driver app, then the geofence. Steps and rounding always come from the clause.

Does it handle other accessorial charges?

Yes. Layover, lumper and truck-ordered-not-used charges sit on the same day's list, and each is billed only with its proof, such as a lumper receipt or the appointment-change email.

What if the facility's gate log disagrees with our driver?

The reply's fixed fields draw the gate ring beside the others. If the facility gives a different stamp time, both are shown and the billing specialist picks one with a reason. Free-text notes change nothing until a person reads them.

Can sales waive detention for an account it is defending?

Sales can ask. The request shows as pending, the bill for that customer waits, and the billing manager approves or declines it after opening the request and the priced options.

Who sees the driver's location?

Only billing and dispatch, only inside customer geofences, and only while the driver is on duty. Raw truck positions are kept six months; the in and out events behind a billed charge are kept two years.

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Bring a week of stops
past free time.

We will lay the clocks of a few of your own stops on the dial with you, against your customer's clause.

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