Detention Time; What do You Get?

[ATeam]

In another thread, the question came up about what the different carriers pay for detention time and under what circumstances. That being a topic in itself, I started a new thread for it here.

For expedier wannabees and newbies reading this, detention time (D-time) is not the bad thing you knew about in school. D-time pay is compensation paid to a truck that is held on a load for one reason or another.

My question is simple. When your truck is delayed for one reason or another, what D-time provisions come into play? How much are you paid for the delay and under what circumstances are you paid?

 

[ATeam]

With our carrier, D-time is not specifically addressed in the lease agreement that contractors sign. The policy is stated by dispatchers and contractor coordinators when we ask, but it is inconsistent. Sometimes we get paid D-time and sometimes we do not.

For example, we got paid for a delay a while ago when we waited at the dock for several hours because the freight was not ready. The D-time clock kicked in after two hours. But another time, when we also got paid to wait for freight that was not ready, the clock did not kick in until six hours had elapsed. Recently, we were delayed at the U.S./Canada border because of a paperwork error made by the broker. That delay was over 12 hours and we were paid nothing more than a token $25 bump. As I said, sometimes we get paid D-time and sometimes not.

Word from dispatchers and contractor coordinators is that D-time can only be paid when the customer is charged for it and exactly what the customer is charged is a function of the contract the customer and carrier have entered into.

As a practical matter, when a delay happens in which D-time could be reasonably expected, we do not know until the run is complete if D-time will be paid at all or how much it will be if D-time is paid.

 

[greg334]

My question is simple. When your truck is delayed for one reason or another, what D-time provisions come into play? How much are you paid for the delay and under what circumstances are you paid?

Well Phil, my contract says something to the affect that I get a percentage of what is negotiated with the customer IF I ask for it. I have not asked for it with the seven or eight runs that ran into 4 or 5 hours of sitting there and doing nothing but ONLY once the agent took it upon themselves to give it to me at a $400 an hour rate for the 8 hours I did not drive the truck and that I felt wasn't needed.

Many newbies look at this as a cash cow but it isn't. It really doesn't help when things are beyond the control of the driver or contractor at the same time the dispatcher doesn't do their job by covering all the bases. As in that other thread, it is an issue with customs, but it is also the driver's fault for not insisting on the carrier to cover all the bases and get a confirmation number that the customs order was processed and accepted - hence the driver does not deserve compensation for any border delays.

 

[davekc]

If the carrier is deciding whether to pay a contractor based on whether they collect, I would feel they aren't performing up to par. In that case, they should let you negotiate directly with the paying party if they can't negotiate something. Sometimes it may be a good customer that they are afraid of losing. In that case they can use some of the detention collected at 200 to 300 per hour and paying the driver 25 to subsidize it.
Just my opinion if you have no control over it.

At the Cat it depends on the vehicle size and truck contract. But they follow the industry standard of charging after two hours. That would include detention at either shipper, consignee, and border crossings. The only place they don't pay I believe is delays from a swap which I think they should.
Canada loads have a $130 bonus for straights. I forget what vans and TT's get.
Broker loads are whatever is negotiated at the original setup.

 

[lhannah]

With our company the driver receive $35 an hour which kicks in after two hours. We are required to give the company two hours over the agreed PU time. Often I have drivers who get to the PU a couple hours early and then get confused on when detention really starts.

We also have a different charge for a lay over. So if the driver gets there at 22:00 and is asked to wait until morning to deliver we give the driver $100.

This is for CV and the bare minimum. Often times the rates for straight trucks and larger are negotiated higher than this. If so, the driver is informed what the amount will be when detention begins.

 

[ErieBigDawg]

It happened LAST night...1 PM PU to be direct to Erie(7 hrs.)

Got there to deliver at 7PM and the central warehouse accepts NO deliveries after 2:45 PM.

Drove home (19.5 miles) and delivered this morning.

I was paid $50 for the overnight detention and mileage to and from home.

 

[RETIDEPXE]

Very sore subject with me and the Cat as inconsistent as it is. Dispatch will tell you one thing, payroll another, and driver relations yet another. If delivery time is changed while on pro, it seems to cancel out any detention time acording to payroll, but dispatch will tell you it is set up, "just circle your times on the pro" etc. I understand, having had a small payroll with employees before, conflicts in interest and such, but why can't they come out with some clear cut rules on this subject? It's been like pulling teeth lately to gain was is due.

retidepxe

 

[cheri1122]

We also get detention only with some customers, and only after the 'industry standard' 2 hrs.
It is standard for a t/t on t/l and ltl loads, but for a smaller unit on an expedited load, it's ludicrous, IMO. To allow 2 hours of the driver's time [which is federally regulated] to be wasted by a customer who has all the control over both the time the driver arrives and the time the freight is ready, is incredible.
It really needs to be addressed: carriers need to be more assertive in protecting drivers' limited time to drive, [making appointments is good, making sure the consignee is open for business is even better!] Shippers and consignees need to resolve whatever problems [lack of dock space, too many trucks scheduled for the same arrival time] cause the delays.
Detention pay is supposed to address these issues, but it isn't making much difference for drivers that continue to sit at the dock for free - particularly solo drivers, who worry about whether the load can be completed legally. [Another reason teams are desired, I think - but hardly a good one.]
If it's a profit center for carriers who collect serious detention pay and pocket most of it, that is morally indefensible, period.
OOIDA is beginning to look at the issue, but their focus is on OTR trucking, not expediting, where the trucks are smaller and time is of the essence.
Or, some time is......

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Well Phil, my contract says something to the affect that I get a percentage of what is negotiated with the customer IF I ask for it. I have not asked for it with the seven or eight runs that ran into 4 or 5 hours of sitting there and doing nothing but ONLY once the agent took it upon themselves to give it to me at a $400 an hour rate for the 8 hours I did not drive the truck and that I felt wasn't needed.

Many newbies look at this as a cash cow but it isn't. It really doesn't help when things are beyond the control of the driver or contractor at the same time the dispatcher doesn't do their job by covering all the bases. As in that other thread, it is an issue with customs, but it is also the driver's fault for not insisting on the carrier to cover all the bases and get a confirmation number that the customs order was processed and accepted - hence the driver does not deserve compensation for any border delays.

You nuts? how in Sams Bells ya supposed to do that? Sit at the shippers for 3 hours?

 

[x06col]

In another thread, the question came up about what the different carriers pay for detention time and under what circumstances. That being a topic in itself, I started a new thread for it here.

For expedier wannabees and newbies reading this, detention time (D-time) is not the bad thing you knew about in school. D-time pay is compensation paid to a truck that is held on a load for one reason or another.

My question is simple. When your truck is delayed for one reason or another, what D-time provisions come into play? How much are you paid for the delay and under what circumstances are you paid?

Kinda like "the plastic chair" Phil. How much crap do ya put up with? We all have our go-no go limits. Some were such azzholes I took the load home and put it on the dock cranked them hard before they got the freight, and others were in such a crap sandwich i'd a stood on my head to help em. Apples ain't always jes apples. But, ya got these "contract readers" that i'm really looking forward to reading the responses from.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Kinda like "the plastic chair" Phil. How much crap do ya put up with? We all have our go-no go limits. Some were such azzholes I took the load home and put it on the dock cranked them hard before they got the freight, and others were in such a crap sandwich i'd a stood on my head to help em. Apples ain't always jes apples. But, ya got these "contract readers" that i'm really looking forward to reading the responses from.

Contracts mean crap.....

when was the last time a driver took legal issue with a carrier over D Time?
When was the last time a driver was terminated immediately and the driver fought back?

 

[ATeam]

You nuts? how in Sams Bells ya supposed to do that? Sit at the shippers for 3 hours?

It must vary more than you realize depending on the carriers and shippers and freight. It is not unheard of for us to sit 2, 3, even 6 hours at a shipper waiting to pick up. In those cases, the loads are either very complex in themselves or part of a larger, coordinated project.

The thought comes to mind about disclosure of D-time provisions before loads are offered. It would take some work but drivers might appreciate knowing ahead of time which shippers pay D-time and which do not. A single letter code in the run offer could provide that disclosure... A for D-time paid per schedule A, B for D-time paid per schedule B, Z for no D-time provision, or some such thing.

 

[x06col]

Contracts mean crap.....

when was the last time a driver took legal issue with a carrier over D Time?
When was the last time a driver was terminated immediately and the driver fought back?

Maybe, jes maybe the drivers have a personnal issue that "came up" with that load in transit, or the driver really didn't "wanna" do this thing anymore. Dunno. But, I read a lot bout the allmighty "Contract".

 

[OntarioVanMan]

It must vary more than you realize depending on the carriers and shippers and freight. It is not unheard of for us to sit 2, 3, even 6 hours at a shipper waiting to pick up. In those cases, the loads are either very complex in themselves or part of a larger, coordinated project.

The thought comes to mind about disclosure of D-time provisions before loads are offered. It would take some work but drivers might appreciate knowing ahead of time which shippers pay D-time and which do not. A single letter code in the run offer could provide that disclosure... A for D-time paid per schedule A, B for D-time paid per schedule B, Z for no D-time provision, or some such thing.

I was commenting to Greg...

I have never ever heard 2 hrs was standard till I started here in the US...most were 1 hour and it was ALL D time...

30 minutes to get loaded and 1 hour to get unloaded would yield 30 minutes D-time...Total D-Time against pro number.

this 2 hours at the front end and 2 hours at the back end is bull....that is 4 hours D-time on 1 pro number.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Maybe, jes maybe the drivers have a personnal issue that "came up" with that load in transit, or the driver really didn't "wanna" do this thing anymore. Dunno. But, I read a lot bout the allmighty "Contract".

tell me about it...get a contract, get a lawyer...

 

[x06col]

tell me about it...get a contract, get a lawyer...

Right?//////

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Right?//////

I can see getting a lawyer for $100 issue...make sense to me...

or going OOS and losing money to go into the office to fight a $100 issue...

 

[greg334]

You nuts? how in Sams Bells ya supposed to do that? Sit at the shippers for 3 hours?

Well like I said, it is the carrier who needs to step up and do a bit of time management with some intelligent planning.

I have to make a pick up in Windsor, the carrier I'm doing the work for has the paperwork for the load in their hands before the pallet is wrapped, they check it, call if there are any issues and then they send it to the brokers. By the time I get over the border, they have everything ready, I get loaded and on my way. I may have to delay my crossing by 20 minutes but I'm on the bridge coming back in at the time we agreed to. I have not ever had to wait 3 hours or had to deal with a shipment where I had to go and fix with that carrier.

 

[nightcreacher]

Here at TRI STATE aqs a tractor,sometime i givwe Aaway 1 hr and most the time 2 hrs,then I start collecting my D time.I can get paid at shipper AND receiver if wither holds me to the 2 hr time.I did 95 loads in 2010,and only had a couple times that D time came about.To get it,I just had to mark the times on my bills and I received it.Was that simple.Mosyt of the time,no appointment was made for delivery by the paying party,so they also paid the D time.Also ,never had a delay at both parts of the run,usually just at one end of it.
At FDCC,as a tracrto we had to give away a total of 4 hrs,before we would start collecting D time.THat was the total hrs of shipper and delivery,if we were delayed 4 hrs at pick up,we then went on clock as soon as we got to delivery.Unless the load was a hot load,if you made up the time,and delivered at the regular time,you could loose the D time.I always asked if I made up the time,would my D time start when I got there,or should I just wait tila my new delivery time.THey always said,don't wait,Then I said you need to start my D time when i arrive,or I'm taking a nap.Usually started when I arrived.

 

[Moot]

Another day older and deeper in debt!