Demurrage and detention fees are daily charges that ocean carriers and marine terminals impose when your cargo sits at the port too long or when the carrier’s container stays out too long after leaving the terminal. Under the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, every invoice must contain specific information, you have at least 30 days to dispute a charge, and the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) can order refunds when carriers bill improperly. In fiscal year 2024, FMC-handled complaints produced nearly $1.9 million in refunded or cancelled charges.1Federal Maritime Commission. FY 2024 Annual Report
What Each Fee Actually Covers
Demurrage is charged when your cargo stays at the terminal past the allowed free time. The terminal needs the space for the next vessel, so the fee pushes you to move the freight. Delays typically trace back to a customs hold, a missing truck appointment, or a warehouse that isn’t ready to receive the container. Daily rates at major U.S. terminals commonly run from under $100 to several hundred dollars per day for a standard dry container, and they escalate as the container sits.
Detention is charged after the container leaves the terminal gate. Once your trucker picks it up, the carrier’s clock starts on the equipment. If you take too long to unload and return the empty box, you’re billed per day. One major carrier lists $185 per day for a standard dry container and $285 per day for a refrigerated unit.2Ocean Network Express. Detention and Demurrage Rate Schedule – Effective Jan 1, 2025 Specialty equipment like flat racks and open tops runs higher.
The short version: demurrage penalizes cargo sitting at the terminal, detention penalizes equipment held outside it. A single shipment can trigger both if you’re late picking up and late returning.
How Free Time and Charges Add Up
Every tariff or service contract includes a window of free time. For demurrage, the clock generally starts when the container is discharged from the vessel or becomes available for pickup. For detention, it starts when the loaded container passes through the outbound terminal gate. Most carriers offer two to seven free days, and busy ports or peak seasons often shrink that window.
How days are counted matters. Free time is generally calculated in working days, so weekends and holidays don’t consume your window. Once free time expires, charges typically accrue on a calendar-day basis, so weekends then count against you.3Federal Maritime Commission. Rules, Rates, and Practices Relating to Detention, Demurrage, and Free Time for Containerized Imports and Exports Moving Through Selected United States Ports Some jurisdictions prohibit demurrage on non-working days.
Rates usually tier upward. The first days past free time might cost $100 per day; by day six or seven the daily rate can double or triple. A two-week delay at a port with aggressive tiers can produce a charge that exceeds the freight’s value.
What Must Appear on a Compliant Invoice
The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 added detailed content requirements to federal law. If required information is missing, you are not legally obligated to pay.4Federal Register. Demurrage and Detention Billing Requirements
Under 46 U.S.C. § 41104(d), every demurrage or detention invoice must include, at minimum:5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 USC 41104 – Common Carriers
- For imports, the date the container was actually available for pickup
- The port of discharge
- The container number or numbers
- For exports, the earliest return date
- The number of allowed free days, plus the start and end dates
- The applicable rule and the daily rate or rates
- The total amount due
- Contact information for questions and fee mitigation requests
The invoice must also carry two certifications from the billing party: that the charges comply with FMC rules, and that the billing party’s own performance did not cause or contribute to the charges.6eCFR. 46 CFR 541.6 – Content of Demurrage and Detention Invoices That second certification is what prevents a carrier from billing you for a delay it created — a late vessel arrival, for instance, or slow container availability at the terminal.
Check any invoice against this list item by item. A missing container availability date, an absent certification, or a rate rule that doesn’t line up with your contract is grounds to withhold payment and, if needed, take the dispute to the FMC.
The Deadlines on Both Sides
Federal regulations put clocks on both the carrier and the shipper, and missing them has consequences.
The Carrier Has 30 Days to Bill You
A billing party must issue its demurrage or detention invoice within 30 calendar days from the date the charge was last incurred. Miss the window, and you don’t owe it.7eCFR. 46 CFR 541.7 – Issuance of Demurrage and Detention Invoices The rule stops carriers from stockpiling old charges and sending surprise bills months later.
You Have at Least 30 Days to Dispute
Once you receive an invoice, the billing party must give you at least 30 calendar days to request fee mitigation, a refund, or a waiver. If you file a dispute within that window, the billing party then has 30 calendar days to try to resolve it, unless both sides agree to extend.4Federal Register. Demurrage and Detention Billing Requirements Save every email and portal submission with a timestamp. Those records matter if you later file with the FMC.
Extra Time When an NVOCC Is in the Middle
If you’re working with a non-vessel-operating common carrier rather than the ocean carrier itself, the NVOCC must pass through any demurrage or detention invoice within 30 calendar days of receiving it from the carrier. If the NVOCC misses that pass-through deadline, you don’t owe the charge. If you dispute a charge the NVOCC received upstream, the NVOCC gets an additional 30 calendar days to push the dispute back to the ocean carrier.8eCFR. 46 CFR Part 541 – Demurrage and Detention
When a Charge Is Unreasonable
The FMC uses an “incentive principle” to judge whether a charge is lawful: the fee has to actually promote freight fluidity. If it doesn’t, it’s likely unreasonable.9eCFR. 46 CFR 545.5 – Unjust and Unreasonable Practices With Respect to Demurrage and Detention
The principle has real bite. Charging demurrage on cargo that’s physically inaccessible — buried behind other containers, sitting in a closed terminal section — doesn’t incentivize anything, because you can’t pick up what you can’t reach. Detention charges when the terminal or depot refuses to accept your empty return follow the same logic: you’re being billed for a situation you can’t fix. The Commission also looks at whether the carrier gave adequate pickup notice and whether government inspections created delays outside your control. Charges piled on during those situations are prime candidates to be declared unreasonable and refunded.
How to Dispute a Charge
The FMC provides three escalation paths, running from informal to formal.
Informal Help Through CADRS
The FMC’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Dispute Resolution Services (CADRS) offers free ombuds assistance to resolve shipping disputes without litigation.10Federal Maritime Commission. Filing a Shipping Complaint The carrier’s participation is voluntary, but many engage because the next step, a formal complaint, puts them on the Commission’s radar. Good starting point for a straightforward dispute with a responsive carrier.
Charge Complaints
If informal channels fail or the invoice is plainly non-compliant, you can file a Charge Complaint under 46 U.S.C. § 41310. Any person can submit one. Complaints go to chargecomplaints@fmc.gov and should include the disputed invoices, supporting documentation such as gate receipts and terminal screenshots, and an explanation of why the charges are unlawful.11Federal Maritime Commission. Guidance on Charge Complaint Interim Procedure
FMC staff review your submission and may recommend that the Commission issue an Order to Show Cause, which names the carrier and requires it to explain why the fees shouldn’t be refunded or waived. If the Commission rules in your favor, it can order a full refund, and separate penalty proceedings can follow for carriers with a pattern of billing violations. The FMC investigated 130 charge complaints in fiscal year 2024 and secured more than $1.87 million in refunds or cancelled charges.1Federal Maritime Commission. FY 2024 Annual Report
Small Claims and Formal Complaints
For disputes of $50,000 or less, the FMC offers an informal small claims procedure handled by a Small Claims Officer instead of an administrative law judge.12eCFR. 46 CFR Part 502 Subpart S – Informal Procedure for Adjudication of Small Claims Both sides must consent. If the carrier refuses, the matter moves to a formal complaint proceeding, which resembles a streamlined court process with evidence and potentially a hearing. Formal complaints take longer and often benefit from counsel, but they may be the only route when a carrier stonewalls.
Who Can Be Billed
Demurrage and detention invoices generally go to the party that contracted with the carrier for the transportation or storage. In most import moves, that’s the shipper or the named consignee. FMC rules allow carriers to bill consignees directly when the consignee has a contractual relationship with the carrier, and trucking companies can be billed if they hold their own contract with the carrier.4Federal Register. Demurrage and Detention Billing Requirements If you get an invoice from a party you have no contract with, that’s worth scrutinizing before you pay.
Practical Ways to Reduce Your Exposure
The best dispute is the one you don’t have to file. A few operational habits move the needle.
Track container availability in real time. Many terminals post container status through their websites or third-party platforms. If your container was discharged Monday but wasn’t reachable until Wednesday because it was stacked behind other cargo, document that gap. It supports a fee mitigation request and may show the availability date on the invoice is wrong.
Pre-clear customs before the vessel arrives. The most common source of demurrage is cargo stuck waiting for customs release. Filing early, resolving holds and exam requests proactively, and using a broker who communicates in real time shaves days off terminal dwell.
Negotiate free time into your service contract. Carriers will sometimes extend free time for high-volume shippers or off-peak periods. One or two extra days can be the difference between a clean pickup and a four-figure demurrage bill, particularly at congested ports where truck appointments are scarce.
Consider street turns for detention. Instead of returning an empty import container to the depot and then sending a separate empty for an export load, a street turn redirects the import container straight to an export shipper. That keeps equipment in continuous use and can cut detention meaningfully. Matching container types and getting carrier approval takes coordination, but the savings can justify it for shippers with steady import and export volumes.
Build the evidence file from the first day of the shipment. Save gate receipts, terminal appointment screenshots, customs hold notices, and every message with the carrier or terminal. Months later, that documentation is what turns a dispute into a refund.