🇺🇸United States

Loss of equipment and terminal capacity from prolonged container time

4 verified sources

Definition

When containers are not picked up or returned on time, carriers’ equipment and terminal yard slots are tied up, reducing available capacity for revenue‑generating moves. D&D fees compensate partially, but they do not fully offset the opportunity cost of containers and yard space stuck in non‑productive dwell.

Key Findings

  • Financial Impact: Opportunity cost equivalent to losing multiple container turns per year per unit; with daily detention fees often only $50–$100, lost revenue from missed trips can exceed fee income by thousands of dollars per container annually[3][5]
  • Frequency: Daily
  • Root Cause: Detention is explicitly a container rental charge when a box stays outside the port beyond agreed free time, and demurrage is charged when it sits too long at the terminal.[3][4][6] Each day beyond free time is a day the container and its yard slot cannot be used for another shipment; driver detention at customer sites similarly removes trucks from productive hours, as carriers levy modest detention fees to offset idle time but still lose potential loads.[5]

Why This Matters

This pain point represents a significant opportunity for B2B solutions targeting Freight and Package Transportation.

Affected Stakeholders

Equipment and fleet managers at ocean carriers, Terminal yard managers, Truckload and intermodal carrier operations, Dispatchers and planners, Network optimization and capacity planners

Deep Analysis (Premium)

Financial Impact

$1,500-$3,000 per container from detention + lost equipment turn; 5-10% of returns miss window weekly • $1,500-$3,000 per container from detention + lost turn capacity; weekly occurrences on 5-10% of returns • $1,500-$3,000 per container from detention; 5-10% of inbound containers affected; weekly impact

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Current Workarounds

3PL AR clerk manually compiles D&D invoices from multiple carriers; reconciles to shipment records via spreadsheet; sends aging report • 3PL dispatch uses manual board + phone; owner-operators given verbal instructions; no geofence/ETA enforcement • 3PL dispatcher manually schedules returns via spreadsheet; last-mile supervisor receives priority list via email

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Methodology & Sources

Data collected via OSINT from regulatory filings, industry audits, and verified case studies.

Evidence Sources:

Related Business Risks

Systemic under‑billing and billing‑error write‑offs on detention & demurrage

$50,000–$500,000 per year for mid‑size shippers and NVOCCs (extrapolated from typical fee levels of $75–$300 per container per day and hundreds–thousands of annual containers)[2][3][6]

Runaway detention & demurrage fees from poor coordination

$150,000+ per incident for large shipments, with total annual D&D costs often reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars for active importers/exporters (illustrated by demurrage examples where a single shipment incurs $150,000 in charges)[5]

Disputed detention & demurrage charges and rework

$5,000–$50,000 per month in staff time and concessions for a mid‑size forwarder or carrier (inferred from FMC‑mandated 30‑day dispute/mitigation process windows and typical per‑day charge levels)[1][2][3]

Delayed cash collection due to contested D&D invoices

$20,000–$200,000 in outstanding D&D receivables at any given time for medium carriers/NVOCCs (scaled from high per‑day fees and the 30‑day mitigation window plus negotiation cycles)[1][2][3]

Regulatory exposure and penalties over non‑compliant D&D billing

Individual FMC enforcement actions can reach into the millions of dollars in refunds and penalties across billing categories; D&D is a specific focus post‑OSRA‑2022 (risk level inferred from the Act and rule‑making focus on billing fairness).[1]

Opportunistic use of D&D as de‑facto storage or leverage

Tens of thousands of dollars per year in avoidable D&D per abusing shipper, plus significant opportunity cost for carriers whose equipment is tied up (estimated from fee ranges of $75–$300 per day and observed patterns of extended dwell)[2][3][6]

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