Detention is the charge an ocean carrier bills when you keep its container outside the terminal beyond the allowed free time. For imports the clock runs from gate-out until the empty is returned; for exports it can run from empty pick-up until the full container is gated in.
Detention prices the use of the carrier’s equipment. Once a container leaves the terminal for unpacking, the carrier wants its asset back; every day beyond free time is billed per container per day, often in rising tiers.
The common confusion is with demurrage, which covers time inside the terminal. A single slow import can incur both: demurrage while the box waited at the port, then detention while the empty sat at a warehouse. In the United States the term per diem is often used for the same charge.
Gate-out starts the import detention clock, and the empty return event stops it. When you track a container, a long tail between gate-out and empty return is the detention signal. TrackingMCP flags containers that are out of the terminal but not yet returned, and the free-time pages show published detention free days for carriers such as CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd.
Free days, daily rates, and billing rules vary by carrier, terminal, port, and contract. Treat this page as orientation and confirm specifics against your own agreement and the applicable tariff before acting on an invoice.
Detention is the charge an ocean carrier bills when you keep its container outside the terminal beyond the allowed free time. For imports the clock runs from gate-out until the empty is returned; for exports it can run from empty pick-up until the full container is gated in.
Yes with many carriers. If you pick up an empty container and take longer than the allowed free time to return it full to the terminal, export detention can apply. The exact trigger events vary by tariff.
They cover different places, so they do not run at the same instant, but one shipment can incur both in sequence: demurrage inside the terminal, then detention once the container has gated out and the empty is late coming back.
Detention free time by carrier →
Track gate-out and empty return events →
More in Charges & free time: Demurrage · Demurrage & detention · Demurrage vs detention vs storage · Free time · Last free day (LFD) · Per diem · Terminal handling charge (THC) · General rate increase (GRI) · Peak season surcharge (PSS) · Bunker adjustment factor (BAF) · Currency adjustment factor (CAF) · War risk surcharge (WRS) · Browse all 106 terms →