Detention
A penalty fee charged for holding port equipment — typically a chassis or container — past the allowed free period after it leaves the terminal. Often confused with demurrage, but billed separately.
Detention vs. demurrage: a common mix-up
Demurrage is the fee for cargo staying at the terminal past Last Free Day — a storage fee charged by the port. Detention is the fee for equipment (chassis, container) being held past the free return window after it leaves the terminal — charged by the carrier or equipment provider.
The two frequently stack. A container picked up past its LFD generates demurrage; if that same container's chassis isn't returned within the free return window, detention kicks in on top. In an active operation it's easy to lose track of which clock is running.
Why detention is harder to catch than demurrage
Demurrage has a clear deadline — the LFD date — that most teams at least try to track. Detention windows start when the equipment leaves the terminal and vary by carrier and equipment pool, making them harder to monitor in a spreadsheet.
The practical result: operations teams often focus on preventing demurrage and get surprised by detention invoices weeks later. The underlying coordination problem is the same, but the signal is further removed from day-to-day workflow.
How Logixa handles it
Logixa tracks equipment return windows alongside LFDs — the same proactive alert pattern (72/48/24 hours before the deadline) applies to chassis and container returns, so dispatchers can plan return runs before detention starts accruing. The shipment timeline keeps the full audit trail if a disputed detention invoice ever lands.
See Logixa DispatchSee how Logixa makes this part of your workflow concrete.
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