Analysis
Detention isn't just for containers: why driver waiting time goes unpaid too
Published: 2026-09-02
Written by Natys Vytautas, founder of UAB NVGroup.
When people hear "detention," most think of containers sitting at a port. But the same problem — contractual free time, actual waiting that exceeds it, and compensation that chronically goes unclaimed — exists in road transport too. It just doesn't get talked about as often.
What it actually costs
A 2024 study by the American Transportation Research Institute found that the trucking industry lost $15.1 billion to driver detention in 2023 alone — $11.5 billion in lost productivity and $3.6 billion in direct costs. An individual driver loses $11,000–$19,000 a year as a result.
The numbers come from the US market, but the structure is universal: a driver arrives at a loading or unloading facility, the agreed free time (usually around 2 hours) runs out, waiting continues — but a claim for the excess time is rarely filed.
Why this happens — the same pattern as containers
The reason isn't that the claims are unfounded. It's administrative: fewer than 50% of detention invoices actually get paid, not because shippers reject them, but because the driver or carrier has to initiate the claim themselves with full documentation — arrival and departure timestamps, a signed waybill, clear proof of the contractual free time. It's exactly the same work a D&D auditor does with container invoices by hand — except here, almost nobody does it systematically.
A structure you already recognize
| Container detention | Driver detention |
|---|---|
| Contractual free time | "Grace period" (usually ~2 hours) |
| Gate-in / gate-out timestamps | Arrival / departure timestamps at the loading facility |
| D&D invoice from the shipping line | Detention rate in the contract with the shipper |
| Independent data verification | Same principle — independent timestamp comparison |
Where this stands right now
This is an area we're actively looking into — assessing whether and how our existing audit methodology could apply to this structurally very similar case. If your company regularly deals with unpaid driver detention and you'd be willing to share your experience — what documentation you actually have, how claims are currently handled — get in touch. An early conversation with real carriers matters more to us than guessing what this problem looks like from the outside.