Dispatcher detention pay: how detention and lumper money actually gets claimed and paid

Detention pay is money for time a shipper or receiver holds your truck past the free time agreed on the rate con. Lumper reimbursement is your own money coming back after you paid for unloading you were required to buy. Both are owed only on the terms you agreed to, and both are paid only on proof. This guide walks through how a dispatcher gets them paid, step by step, and what you can do from the cab to make every claim stronger.

If you want the basic definitions first, read what detention means in trucking. This page is about the claim itself.

Step 1: Terms on the rate con, before you accept

Everything starts here. A broker pays detention because the rate confirmation says so, not because the wait was long. Before an offer reaches you, a dispatcher should have asked for, and ideally gotten in writing:

• Free time at the shipper and at the receiver, and when it starts: at check-in, at the appointment, or at the door.
• A detention rate per hour after free time, and how partial hours are counted.
• Notice rules: whether you must tell the broker before free time ends, and how.
• Layover for a delivery pushed to another day.
• A TONU amount if the load is cancelled after you've been dispatched.
• Lumper reimbursement: who pays, how, and how fast you're paid back.

Not every broker agrees to every line. When one refuses detention terms, you should hear that before you decide, not after a five-hour wait. A load with no terms can still be worth running from a shipper that moves trucks quickly; it's a risk at a dock known for long holds.

Step 2: Times you can prove

The claim is only as good as the times behind it. The broker will usually want records that someone other than you created, or that are hard to fake:

• The check-in time from the gate, the guard shack or the receiver's appointment system.
• The check-out time written on the signed bill of lading or POD.
• Electronic logging device records showing when the truck arrived and left.
• Your own messages to the broker, time-stamped.

Get the check-in time on paper or a screen photo the moment you arrive. Many receivers record arrival when you reach the window, not when you pull in, so an hour in the line outside may not count unless you can show it. Know which rule your rate con uses: some start free time at the appointment, so arriving early doesn't start the clock early.

Step 3: Notice before free time ends

This is the step that gets skipped most, and it's the one many brokers check first. Before free time runs out, send the broker a short written message: you're on site at the receiver, checked in at a stated time, not yet unloaded, and free time ends shortly. When you're released, send another with the out time.

That notice does two things. It proves the clock was running while the broker could still do something about it, like call the receiver. And it meets the notice rule on rate cons that require one. A dispatcher should send it for you; you just need to tell the desk when you're still waiting.

Step 4: The claim file, built while it's fresh

A detention claim isn't a phone call. It's a short message with attachments, sent within a day or two of delivery. Use the builder below to see what a complete file looks like: tick what you have, put in a load's times and terms, and it writes an EXAMPLE claim message with your numbers. Nothing is sent anywhere; it stays in your browser.

Subject: Detention, load EX-20418

Hello,

For load EX-20418 at Receiver name, City, ST, the truck checked in at 07:05 and checked out at 12:20, 5 h 15 m on site. The rate confirmation allows 2 hours of free time, then $50 per hour. That leaves 3 h 15 m billable, $163 in detention.

Attached: signed rate confirmation, check-in and check-out records, our message sent before free time ended, and the signed POD.

Please confirm when this will be paid. Thank you.

A complete file usually has the signed rate con, the check-in and check-out records, the notice messages and the signed POD, plus the lumper receipt if one was paid. Send it soon. A claim assembled three weeks later, when nobody at the receiver remembers the day, is easier to refuse.

Layover and TONU claims work the same way

Detention is the most common accessorial claim, but layover and TONU follow the same pattern: terms first, proof second, claim third.

Layover applies when a delivery or pickup moves to another day because of the shipper or receiver, not you. The proof is the original appointment, the time you arrived for it, and a written reschedule from the broker, shipper or receiver showing the new day. A verbal "come back tomorrow" at the window isn't enough. Ask for it in writing, or send the broker a message that confirms what you were told and when.

TONU, truck ordered not used, applies when a load is cancelled after you've been dispatched to it. The proof is the signed rate con with the TONU amount, the time you started rolling toward the pickup, your arrival time if you got there, and the cancellation in writing. Get the cancellation as a message or email, not just a phone call. If the shipper tells you at the dock the load isn't ready, photograph the time and ask the broker to confirm the cancellation.

Both claims go out the same way as detention: a short message with the attachments, soon after the day happened.

Keeping a detention log that wins arguments

A simple log, kept on your phone or in a notebook, turns a vague memory into a record. For every stop, write:

• The facility name and the load number.
• The appointment time and the time you actually arrived.
• The check-in time the facility recorded, if it differs.
• When you got a door, and when loading or unloading started and ended.
• When you sent the broker a notice, and what it said.
• The out time on the signed paperwork.

Patterns show up quickly. Some facilities hold trucks for hours on certain days. Some brokers pay detention without argument and others never do. That history is useful when you're deciding whether a load is worth it, and it's exactly the kind of information a dispatcher should be keeping for you.

Lumper reimbursement: different money, same discipline

A lumper fee isn't income. It's cash you paid at the door because the receiver required a third-party crew to unload. Federal law says that when a shipper or receiver requires outside help to load or unload, it must provide that help or pay the vehicle owner or operator for its cost, and it can't coerce a carrier into paying. In practice, the driver usually pays and the broker reimburses, which is why the rate con term and the receipt matter.

What the receipt should show:

• The amount paid and how it was paid (electronic check, card, cash).
• The date and the facility.
• The load number, PO number or BOL number that ties it to your load.
• The lumper service's name and a signature or stamp.

Brokers often set a deadline for submitting lumper receipts, so send the photo the same day. Our lumper receipt guide (coming soon) has a free template and the most common reasons receipts get rejected.

Source: 49 U.S.C. 14103(a)-(b), checked October 2026 Not legal advice.

Why claims get refused, and what fixes each one

Some refusals are simply the broker's or shipper's choice, and no amount of paperwork changes that. A dispatcher can't promise every claim gets paid. What a complete file does is take away the easy reasons to say no.

When a broker refuses a claim

A refusal isn't always the end. If the claim was refused for a fixable reason, like a missing attachment, send the missing piece and ask again. If the broker says the shipper or receiver won't pay, ask whether the broker will pay its share under the rate con anyway; the rate con is the broker's agreement with you, not the shipper's. Keep the conversation in writing and polite.

If a broker regularly refuses claims that meet its own rate con terms, that's information for the next decision. A broker who pays a few cents less per mile but honors detention can be the better customer. A dispatcher who keeps track of which brokers pay can steer you toward them.

What our desk does on every load

On every load we dispatch, we ask for the accessorial terms before the offer reaches you, and tell you when a broker refuses them. We log your check-in and check-out times as you send them. We message the broker before free time ends and again when you're released. We build the claim with the attachments and send it, usually the same day, and follow up until it's paid or clearly refused. Lumper receipts go out with the invoice for reimbursement.

Our percentage applies to the detention, layover and TONU we collect, because getting them paid is part of the work. It never applies to lumper reimbursements, which pass back to you in full. You can see the whole flow in how truck dispatch works with us, and the dispatch service built around it on our owner-operator dispatch page.

The short version for the cab

1. Before you accept: free time, detention rate, notice rule, layover, TONU, lumper terms. In writing.
2. On arrival: photograph the check-in time.
3. Before free time ends: message the broker.
4. At release: get the out time on the signed paperwork, photograph everything, including the lumper receipt.
5. Within a day or two: send the claim with every attachment.

For every accessorial and what proves each one, see the accessorial charges guide. To put a number on last week's waits, use the detention pay calculator.