Detention Time Question

As a driver, I am paid after one hour of waiting, not two. So it does depend.

It doesn’t matter to me how long it takes you to unload, but I’m not sitting for no money. Now I don’t do tanker, I do dry van and reefer.

 

Owner Op but dry van. Anything after 2 hours is detention at one location. You do not combine pick and drop locations. Keep in mind a lot pf places refuse to sign stuff for drivers so we write it down on BOL normally.

 

Institute a policy that you dont sign BOL until AFTER load is unloaded at which time you can write an in and out time on the BOL and attach scale tickets as proof of those times. Keep copies of everything for yourself.

 

Tanker driver here.

If either loading OR unloading takes over 2 hours, detention pay should be in effect. We start that clock after 1 hour.

It's on the customer to have the product ready, their equipment in good working order, and personnel available as needed.

They set the load time appointment. We need to show up ontime, or no more than 30 minutes after that time, or detention pay is off the table. Stuff happens. Trucks break. Then that cost would be on us.

If your product can't be unloaded any faster, then the detention pay is just another part of the cost of the product. Sounds more like an engineering problem to me.

 

Maybe the question is, how do you pay for the load? Is It a set amount per load / trip? Has it been factored in to take x-many hours on each side? What does your contract look like without getting into the specifics?

 

Talk to the carrier's sales team, you might get somewhere...maybe roll a few bucks more into linehaul and NO detention...well maybe in the old days.

Otherwise:

Save it for an item handled 'up front' when negotiating with your next carrier.

Air unloading is nice and clean but a pump can do more. Product density is also a large factor. I remember blowing Aluminum Chloride [for deodorant] to a tank 4 floors up and around a 1/4 mile away. it was a small amount in a large trailer and it took 6 or 7 hours...

 

@TankingSolutions123 Since the unloading process cannot be sped up, I think you have two options.

The first is to use two trailers, that way the driver can drop the loaded trailer at the consignee and they can unload it while he is returning the empty trailer to your facility to reload. This also gives you the advantage of being able to provide uninterrupted service in the event that one of the trailers has to be temporarily removed from service (repair, washout, certification tests); the driver would simply revert to doing it the way that it's currently done until both trailers are back in service.

The other option is to simply include the cost of detention time in the price you are charging the consignee.

 

I can see a third option, but it's unlikely to be cost effective as the two you gave.
Install a holding tank that the trailer can gravity drop the product into, then when finished unloading the tanker pump from there to the main tanks.

 

Had a stop who's storage was two old tankwagons.

Left a $20.00 in the tank fill to tell my driver which one to fill.

Never had an over fill....