Nobody is watching the clock
The driver knows the truck has been sitting. Dispatch finds out when the driver calls, and billing finds out when the paperwork comes in.
Detention tracking and billing software for the wait you’d otherwise give away.
Detention is owed when a truck waits past its free time. It gets paid only when someone can prove it, and the proof is spread across the rate confirmation, the ELD and the paperwork. For carriers across Northwest Arkansas, we build custom software on your TMS and ELD that keeps the clock, assembles the claim and holds it for billing to approve. Software you own.
EXPLORE A SAMPLE WORKSPACE
One load, one detention claim.
A delivery that ran past its free time, two departure times that need a second look, and a claim prepared for billing to approve.
Trip contribution$250Estimate · before unallocated overhead
Empty-mile share4.8%18 / 374 total miles
Detention candidate$7545 minutes at agreed rate
NW-2047 · Revenue and costs
Stage 3 · Delivery completedLoad revenue$1,200
Fuel−$240
Driver−$305
Equipment−$165
Allocated insurance−$95
Tolls−$25
Other trip costs−$120
Estimated contribution$250
356 loaded miles
18 empty ÷ 374 total miles = 4.8%. Contribution excludes unallocated overhead. Pending accessorial charges are not revenue.
Sample data · Interactive demoChanges stay in this preview.
This is sample data. Yours would run on the systems you already have.
Talk through your businessWhy detention
goes unbilled.
The notice goes out late
Some customers and brokers pay detention only if they were told while the truck was still waiting. That message depends on a dispatcher who is busy with other loads.
The proof is in three places
Free time and the rate are in the rate confirmation, arrival and departure are in the ELD, and the signed times are on the bill of lading. One claim means pulling all three.
The charge rides on the freight invoice
Detention added to the freight invoice can hold up the whole payment when the customer questions it. Left off, it is easy to forget.
From the gate
to the claim.
- A detention clock on every stop, built from your ELD and the appointment in your TMS, and started at arrival or at the appointment time as the terms say.
- A drafted notice to the customer or broker before free time runs out, for dispatch to review and send.
- A claim packet for each stop that ran over: the agreed terms, the arrival and departure evidence, the signed paperwork and the amount those terms produce.
- A billing queue that approves detention separately from the base invoice and shows each claim as pending, sent, accepted or disputed.
NWAAI / Your operation
How AI is usedYour team approves the next step.
AI reads the rate confirmation for the free time and the rate, compares the appointment, the ELD record and the signed paperwork, and prepares the claim. When sources disagree or the ELD position is stale, it says so and waits. Billing approves each claim before it is sent, and a pending claim is not counted as revenue.
Review → Approve → Record
What a detention
claim needs.
A claim is paid on its proof. These are the records that make it.
Records
- The agreed terms: free time, the detention rate, any cap and any notice the customer requires.
- The appointment time, and proof the truck was on time for it.
- Arrival and departure times from the ELD or telematics record.
- In and out times written and signed on the bill of lading or proof of delivery.
- A gate or check-in record, where the facility keeps one.
- Messages between the driver, dispatch and the customer during the wait.
Systems it connects to
- Your TMS, for loads, stops, appointments, customers and invoices.
- Your ELD or telematics provider, for location and time at each stop.
- Your document capture: the scans and photos drivers send in.
- Rate confirmations and customer contracts, wherever they are kept.
- Your accounting or billing system, for the invoice and the receivable.
A FIRST PROJECTStart with the customers
Start with the customers
whose terms you know.
A first project takes a small group of customers or brokers with clear detention terms, enters those terms once, and runs the clock and the claim for their loads. That shows which stops run over, how often the proof is complete, and what billing needs before it sends a claim. Other customers’ terms and other accessorial charges can follow.
Detention is one part of the trucking software we build, alongside dispatch, ETAs, trip economics and billing.
LET’S MAKE IT PRACTICALBuilt on what
Built on what
you already run.
Bring one load where the truck sat and nobody billed for it. We’ll look at what the claim would have needed and where each piece was.
Talk through your businessWhat proof does a detention claim need?
Usually three things: the agreed terms, proof the truck was on time for its appointment, and arrival and departure times the customer will accept. Those times are strongest when they are written and signed on the bill of lading or proof of delivery and backed by ELD or gate records. Customers and brokers set their own rules, so each packet is built to the terms for that load.
Doesn’t our TMS already handle detention?
Your TMS can hold the charge once someone has worked it out. The work comes before that: watching the clock, sending the notice and gathering proof from the ELD and the paperwork. We build that part on top of your TMS. If yours already does it well, we’ll say so.
Does it work for broker loads and direct customers?
Yes. Terms are kept per customer or per rate confirmation: free time, rate, caps and any notice required. The clock, the notice and the packet follow whichever terms apply to that load. On a broker load, the packet goes out with the request for a revised rate confirmation.
What will our business own?
Once a project is paid in full, the custom code, configuration and documentation we create for you are yours, handed over in accounts you control. Third-party software, hosting and AI services keep their own licenses and costs.