D&D audit
Terminal invoice audit
A terminal storage rate is not one number per day. It escalates in tiers, and the tier boundary is stated in the tariff as a number — in Bremerhaven a 20-foot container goes from 42,00 € per day in the first tier to 168,00 € from day 19. A one-day shift costs more than a whole day at the first rate.
Three charges everyone confuses
Demurrage — the carrier's charge for a full container staying inside the terminal after free time ends.
Detention — the carrier's charge for a container already taken out of the terminal but not returned empty on time.
Storage — the terminal's charge for the use of space.
The first and the third can overlap in the same period and the same place, and the invoices come from different legal entities. In some ports both apply legitimately. That is why we flag an overlap for review rather than as an error — and we do not compute an amount in that case.
Where the overcharge actually appears
Tiers. In HHLA's Hamburg tariff the import rate doubles after 7 countable days and triples after 14 (clause 3.2). At EUROGATE Bremerhaven import has four tiers — days 4–8, 9–13, 14–18 and from day 19. The boundaries are stated as numbers, so the check is objective: either the day falls into the tier or it does not.
The interchange day. Bremerhaven's conditions say it outright: the day of delivery to the terminal is free, while the day of redelivery counts as a full day (clause 7.5.3). That is one day per container — it looks like a rounding detail, which is exactly why it is rarely checked.
Which days are counted
Here caution matters more than a general rule. In some tariffs free time is counted in working days while the charge after free time is counted in calendar days. In that case five working days of free time starting on a Thursday end on the following Thursday, not on Tuesday.
But this is not a universal rule, and we do not assume it. Both German sea-terminal tariffs we verified state free time in calendar days: HHLA — “3 calendar days after the last day of discharge” (3.1), EUROGATE — “Obligatory storage counts for every calendar day” (7.5.3). So we count according to what your tariff or contract says, and where the day type is not stated, we do not run the check.
Reefer containers
A reefer container may have its own free time and its own rate ladder, separate from a standard container — in Bremerhaven it does. But not everywhere: in Hamburg's tariff connection, energy and temperature checks are charged from the moment of plugging in, with no separate free time stated.
So we check a separate reefer clock where the tariff actually provides one, not everywhere by default.
THC
Terminal handling charge is not one charge — it is a bundle covering handling, documentation and temporary storage after a free period. If THC already covers storage and the terminal also bills storage separately, the same period can be paid for twice.
In transhipment, THC is legitimately paid several times — at the port of departure, of transhipment and of destination. So the number of lines tells you nothing, and we do not treat them as duplicates. The check is based on the port and the issuing party: if two different parties billed THC for the same container in the same port, we flag it for review.
What you need to send
Terminal invoices, carrier demurrage invoices for the same period, the applicable tariff or contract, and gate records with in and out times.
We cannot obtain gate times from the documents. They are not in the bill of lading or the air waybill — those are contracts of carriage issued at loading, not terminal event logs. You provide the in and out times, or they come from the gate records you already keep. Without them we do not run the day-counting check.
Which ports already have verified conditions
Terminal tariffs are published unevenly. Bremerhaven's (EUROGATE) and Gdańsk's (Baltic Hub) conditions were verified in the primary documents and entered with clause numbers. Hamburg's (HHLA) free time is confirmed, but the tariff does not define the day type for the charge itself, so we do not run the day-counting check there — we check the tiers.
Klaipėda, Riga and Tallinn publish no tariff stating the day type — these terminals work under individual contracts. In that case the conditions come from your contract: we enter your tariff clause and the check runs on that basis.
Price
The terminal invoice check is included in the D&D audit scope. There is no separate fee — the same success fee on the amount actually recovered, and a fixed price for clients in Germany.
What is needed
- Terminal invoices (required)
If you do not have it: Without the invoices the audit cannot be carried out. - The terminal tariff or contract (without it some of the checks will not work)
If you do not have it: Without the tariff we will not know whether the days are counted as working or calendar days — and without that the charged days cannot be checked. - Gate movement records (without it some of the checks will not work)
If you do not have it: Without them we rely on the invoice alone, so we cannot check the actual time spent at the terminal.
Before you start: how long you have to bring a claim — the scope of a historic audit is limited by the limitation period, not by your archive.