Detention pay

Well I try not to be an A hole right out of the gate but...... if it’s loadboard freight I could care less in most cases. What are they not going to invite me back?

If things are progressing I’m usually cool.

If everyone is dinking around I get in the red fast.

I spent 25 years in management. I know where to apply pressure.

If it’s a regular coustemer I take it with a grain of salt as my actions effect others lively hood within our company. So I keep my mouth shut and be as helpful as I can.

I keep otter pops in my freezer during the summertime. I hand them out liberally in the summer time. Drivers, loaders, shipping clerks, janitor. Even if things are going smooth. Sometimes it helps for next time I arrive. They are dirt cheap and everyone loves them a popsicle when it’s hot outside / inside.

 

There are no rules with loadboard freight. That’s the point.

Dispatch could care less. It’s hard to fight and follow up on getting paid detention. To much work for most of them and 0 reward for them getting it for you.

The sad part is, when you get in and out times on the bills, some times the broker will get the detention and tell you they don’t pay detention and pocket the money.

 

Shippers/receivers not always happy to put in and out times on the bill knowing that you'll be asking for the detention.

 

It’s an industry standard to allow two hours for loading and unloading from the appointment time. Sometimes customers will negotiate more time when they put in the request for a truck, which your dispatcher should be notifying you about when you’re given the load. FCFS doesn’t usually qualify for dentention since there was no official appointment time to start the clock from. It’s usually paid in one of three ways: Never paid, paid at a standard rate built into the freight contract, or negotiated with the freight contract. It depends on who you’re leased to and what their policy is on negotiating and paying it.

My advice with detention is to pick and choose your battles. It’s usually not worth the fight for anything less than an hour of pay, but that’s up to you and how hard you want to press your company.

 

I just went back and read your original post again. As far as why the first two hours are free, well that’s simply because it obviously takes time to load/unload and the cost of that time is built into the freight bill. As an O/O you’re getting paid for the load, not per mile or hourly. Therefore, if a customer pays $1,000 to ship a load that includes the time to load (up to two hours), the transportation of the load, and the time to unload (again up to two hours).

I don’t mean to insult your intelligence by over-explaining this, so sorry if it sounds that way. If a customer pays $1,000 to ship a load then it’s up to the carrier how the driver gets paid. The customer couldn’t care less whether you’re an O/O getting a percentage or a company driver getting a flat rate per mile because the cost to ship the load stays the same for them regardless. All they do is pay the carrier, which is why I said you’ll have to find out from your company exactly what their detention policy is and how they negotiate it with their customers.

 

Sitting at a dock for more than 3 hours without getting empty and they getting only $25-50 for the extra hour means that the receiver/broker simply says F.U. and compromises your livelihood.
Detention pay is a hassle to obtain, but more importantly, it is minimal in the scope of things and never fair, often means screwing up you arrangements for that day and never compensates for a cancelled pick up of another load or a potential load one could cover and get going instead of sitting at a dock. That's why it is best to forget about detention pay as something of significance, and know exactly who the receiver is and make the rate reflect that.

 

This is detention
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFt_pZBsGr0

 

Now that’s funny.