How To Avoid Intermodal Detention Fees and Reduce Costs

Without clear visibility into container status and timing, intermodal detention fees can quickly add up and significantly impact overall transportation costs.

What Is Intermodal Detention?

Even experienced shippers struggle with detention and demurrage costs, two of the most common penalties in the intermodal supply chain. Intermodal detention is a fee charged when a container is not picked up from a facility within the allowed free time window. Once free time expires, daily charges begin accumulating until the container is retrieved.

How Intermodal Detention Happens

When an intermodal facility grounds and stores a container, the facility provides an amount of “free” storage time during which the container must be picked up. This period is known as “free time,” and the final eligible day is often called the “last free day.” If the container is not picked up before the end of this period, typically 24 to 48 hours, the facility will charge the shipper detention.

Because these rules vary by facility, it can be difficult for shippers to track exactly when detention charges begin. Free time and cost vary by facility, and to add to the complexity, standard rail tracing feeds don’t include last free day data. 

So how can you remove this blind spot and avoid thousands of dollars in detention charges?

The Challenge: Visibility Gaps 

This expensive blind spot can be attributed to a combination of inaccurate ETAs, misaligned reporting practices, and procedural differences throughout the supply chain:

• Inaccurate or changing ETAs
• Inconsistent last free day reporting between facilities
• Limited integration between rail, terminal and trucking systems

These visibility gaps make it difficult to proactively manage detention risk. Shippers need a clear, exact timestamp showing when free days expire. 

How Better Data Improves Detention Visibility

Data sources like EDI 322 messages provide critical timing and status information that help shippers better manage detention risk.

• Pick-Up Number: Required for motor carriers to access the intermodal facility and retrieve the container.
• Estimated Time of Grounding (ETG): The estimated date and time the container will be removed from the train.
• Estimated Time of Notification (ETN): The estimated date and time the pickup notification will be issued, triggering the last free day calculation.
• Last Free Day: The final day a container can remain at the facility before detention charges begin.

At the beginning of a shipment, customers can see three of four critical data points: the Pick Up Number, the Estimated time of Grounding, and the Estimated time of Notification. The most detention-deterrent data point, notice of the last free day, doesn’t populate until the container is removed from the train because that’s the official start of the free-storage window. Together, these data points are often referred to as last free day data.

TransmetriQ turns these disjointed data points into a clean timestamp showing the last free day. 

How Better Visibility Helps Avoid Detention Fees

Better visibility allows shippers to act before free time expires, rather than reacting to unexpected charges. Shippers can leverage last free day data to avoid detention charges, reduce driver wait time, and improve understanding of container status. Truckers and shippers alike value prompt retrieval of the container and avoiding unnecessary charges. 

In addition to gaining visibility to improve pickups and avoid detention, you can also refute erroneous detention charges with detailed movement event records. 

Last free day data positions you with the insights you need to understand shipment status and proactively avoid fees, instead of reacting to unexpected charges and timeline adjustments. Adding this critical information to your rail tracing feed saves time, headaches and money. 

How To Reduce Detention Costs 

Reducing detention costs and rail car billing errors requires:

• Improving visibility into container status
• Monitoring last free day in real time
• Coordinating pickup and drayage schedules
• Using predictive data to improve rail ETA accuracy

How To Get Access

Accessing Pick Up Numbers, last free day, and other EDI 322 information is not easy by design. Railroads strictly protect this sensitive data due to potential security risks. 

Like all rail tracing data from Railinc, information gleaned from EDI 322 messages is protected by our Secure Data Access Policy. This policy provides the framework for us to contact the railroads on behalf of the customer for inquiries, and the railroads consider access requests on a case-by-case basis. This data is only visible to those approved by the railroads. 

When Do Customers Qualify for this Information?

Typically, customers listed on the waybill as the shipper, consignee, or a notify party are eligible to receive EDI 322 information. Railroads verify the interested party’s identity and decide whether to provide the data to the customer.

Learn how TransmetriQ helps shippers improve visibility, reduce detention fees and better manage rail and intermodal costs.