Operator glossary
Drayage, demurrage & detention
The port-side trucking leg and its twin meter-running fees — demurrage while your container sits at the terminal, detention while you sit on their container — where ocean savings go to die in Q4.
Drayage is the short-haul container move from port to warehouse, priced per trip with its own vocabulary of surcharges (chassis rental, congestion, overweight). The clock fees flank it: demurrage accrues when the container overstays terminal free time (typically ~4–5 days) before pickup; detention accrues when you keep the carrier's container past free days after pickup. Both meters run daily at rates that dwarf the original drayage quote.
Peak-season postmortems are full of them: appointments unavailable, chassis shortages, warehouses full — while $150–400/day meters run. Defenses: pre-clear customs so free time is not spent on paperwork, book unloading before the vessel arrives, know your free-time terms per carrier, and treat drayage capacity as a Q4 reservation, not a spot purchase.
The numbers
- Demurrage: container overstaying terminal free time (~4–5 days typical); detention: keeping the carrier's box too long after pickup — both metered daily.
- Q4 defenses: pre-cleared customs, unloading booked pre-arrival, free-time terms known, drayage capacity reserved ahead.
Related terms