The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) released a study on the impact of truck driver detention at shipper facilities (“Costs and Consequences of Truck Driver Detention: A Comprehensive Analysis,”). Using the standard industry definition of detention as time spent beyond two hours at a customer facility awaiting active loading/unloading operations, ATRI found, among other conclusions:
- Drivers experienced detention at 39.3 percent of all stops.
- Detention is highest, in order, for refrigerated drivers, women drivers, and owner/operators.
- The for-hire trucking industry lost 135.9 million hours to detention in 2023.
- That lost time equated to $11.5 billion in lost revenue.
- Society experienced supply chain delays and over 72 million gallons of diesel fuel wasted as trucks sat idling.
- Detained drivers drove 14.6 faster on average than drivers not detained, posing a safety risk.
ATRI surveyed motor carriers on how they are addressing truck driver detention. Carriers identified five strategies:
- Negotiate detention fees. 75 percent of the time, motor carriers invoice customers for detention, but shippers pay only 55 percent of invoices sent and the fee amounts typically do not match the carriers’ costs. Many truckers – owner/operators and small carriers – have little leverage in assessing detention fees.
- Arrive early. Early arrival for a scheduled appointment may secure a place in line at the customer facility, but carriers and drivers often have other business needs. And, after all, an early arrival simply shifts when the truck driver must wait, not how long.
- Utilize drop-and hook. Where a motor carrier can leave a trailer at the customer facility for loading or unloading, returning for the trailer at a later time, the truck driver can continue operations elsewhere. For motor carriers, that requires investment in additional trailers and available drivers to return to that facility. For customers, drop-and-hook requires staff to physically handle the freight and yard space to temporarily store the trailers. Drop-and-hook works well for some carriers and facilities, but not for all.
- Communicate. ATRI reports that some customers are simply unaware of the detention problems at their facility. In those cases, good carrier/customer communication may improve service. Similarly, there are trucking industry web services that rate services at shippers. But owner/operators and small carriers frequently do not have the time to log on to a website or to talk to a customer who has already put them behind schedule.
- Refuse service. The ultimate strategy to reduce detention time is not to serve bad customers. That’s a calculation based on revenue needs and frequency of detention.
What about action by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration? As ATRI reports, FMCSA is actively studying driver detention. FMCSA is concerned about the safety implications of truck drivers speeding, plus the reduced time drivers may have in finding appropriate places to park and rest. However, FMCSA’s hands are largely tied when it comes to action against shippers and receivers themselves. The FMCSA charter does not mention shippers and receivers and federal law only allows FMCSA intervention with those entities when there is “coercion” of driver hours of service (HOS) (https://prepass.com/blog/can-fmcsa-reach-beyond-trucks-and -buses-to-regulate-shippers/).
Fortunately, safe and compliant motor carriers can participate in the PrePass weigh station bypass program and PrePass toll payment services, saving time and money as a partial offset detention-related losses. Plus, research shows that customers prefer carriers who participate in a preclearance program like PrePass because they must maintain a good safety record to bypass, and bypassing allows them to reach their destination more reliably.
Likely as not however, those are the customers where detention is not a problem.