When to ask for detention?

A good rule of thumb is 2hrs. any thing past 2 hrs should be paid detention.

 

YEP! Ask yourself this: If YOU called for a cab and told the cab company to have it at your house at 12, noon, AND, when he got there (on time), you go out and tell him it's gonna be a few hours because your wife still has to shower, do her hair, pack, and fix supper... do you think the cabbie is NOT gonna drop the meter flag??? You can bet yer butt he will! You will pay for ALL of his wait time, or you'll be told to call another cab company when you're ACTUALLY ready... I fail to comprehend why truckers expect to be abused when EVERYONE else, in EVERY industry, expects to get PAID for their time... if you are contracted to be someplace at a specific time (and you actually arrive at or before same), THAT's when your compensation window beings... whether you've agreed to 2 "free" hours, or whatever, the clock starts ticking at your appointment time... You can bet your sweet arse if there's a late arrival clause in your rate con, it kicks in the very SECOND you're considered late... AND, the ones I've seen are in the hundreds of dollars per hour... not the 50-75 most shippers/recievers/brokers claim is "fair" to a driver.

 

the other guys are right about two hours.

 

If i killed myself to get to a 12:00 Appt and it is at 5:00 pm,i am not a happy man...

I call the agent ASAP and give them 2 choices..

Choice #1- I want my detention to start at 2:00 PM and i want at least 50.00/hr...I also want it in writing and faxed to my office or sent to my e-mail...You have 45 Minutes to make a decision..

Choice #2- If they do not agree to my terms,i am out of there and looking and chasing after another load...They will have to repost it and order another truck...

 

Yeppers! What he said, Go after the GREEN!! There is no reason for you not to! Unless the contract states you can't! Which I would never accept one that said that.

 

2 hours is fair in most circumstances, however it's not as black and white as that. the relationship you have with the broker comes into play, it's possible the broker simply doesn't have any wriggle room on the rate to pay detention, he will remember if you pull the truck, just like you would if he pulled the load. and he will remember if you are willing to work with him to get the load moved. it's no coincidence that truck operators who are easy to deal with, and willing to adjust and be flexible are the ones being called on the better paying loads.
any monkey can drive a truck from point a to point b. it's the customer service (people skills) that will get you the higher paying freight. and the business skills will determine if you turn a profit from those loads.

 

Just my 1/2 cent worth:

I would think that a SMART O/o would have the detention issue resolved satisfactorily BEFORE agreeing to take the load!!!

 

That is not the issue here...It is being lied to,to get the driver there earlier....This is a problem...

 

being inaccurate, just plain wrong, is not the same as lying. mistakes happen, it's also very easy to make a typo on an email when setting appointment times. a half dozen people can be involved on any given load. I'm not saying it's not a messed up situation but we don't need to jump to the "lying broker" thing everytime there is a mix up.