Detention and accessorial pay

Accessorials are charges beyond the line-haul rate: detention, lumper fees, stop pay, layover, truck-ordered-not-used. They exist because a load can cost you time and labor the base rate never priced in.

The money is real. ATRI's 2024 detention study found drivers were detained at 39.3% of stops in 2023, and reefer drivers reported detention at 56.2% of stops. Getting paid for that time is the difference between a bad day and a bad week.

None of it pays automatically. An accessorial that isn't on the rate con is a favor you're hoping for, and favors don't clear invoices. Here's what each charge covers and how to make it collectible.

Detention: free time, the rate, and the clock

Detention pay kicks in when a shipper or receiver holds you past the agreed free time. Two hours of free time is the common industry default, but that's practice, not law — the number that counts is the one printed on your rate con.

Ask three questions before you book: how much free time, what hourly rate after it, and who to notify when the clock is running out. Many brokers require written notice before free time expires, so a late text can cost you the whole claim.

Lumper fees, stop pay, TONU, and layover

A lumper fee is what some receivers charge to unload the trailer, most common at grocery warehouses. The broker should front it through a payment code or reimburse it against a receipt. Confirm which before you're standing at the dock, and keep every receipt.

Stop pay covers each extra pickup or delivery between the first stop and the last. Truck-ordered-not-used (TONU) applies when a load cancels after you've been dispatched or already arrived. Layover covers a night you're held through no fault of your own. Each one is standard vocabulary — and each one is worth zero if it's not in writing.

Why detention often goes unpaid

The same 2024 ATRI study found that 94.5% of fleets charge detention fees but collect on fewer than half of those invoices. The gap isn't that brokers never pay; it's that claims fail without agreed terms and clean documentation.

That's the whole game: terms before the load, paper during it. A detention claim backed by in/out times, written notice, and a rate con clause is an invoice. The same claim without them is a complaint.

Get it in writing, then build the paper trail

Before booking, get free time and the detention rate on the rate con itself or in an email from the broker's domain. When you read the rate confirmation, treat missing accessorial terms as an open negotiation item, not an oversight.

At the facility, have in and out times written on the BOL and take timestamped photos of the paperwork. Send the broker written notice before free time expires. Afterward, invoice promptly with everything attached.

Track which brokers actually pay. Private broker notes in Copilot are built for this: two loads from a broker who fights every detention invoice tell you what a third load will cost. Detention history also belongs in your next counter — see building a counteroffer.