Finance & ops
Detention vs demurrage — a yard team guide
Finance uses detention and demurrage in carrier contracts. Yard teams experience them as clocks that start at gate-in or staging. Stage-level dwell on the yard management system gives both teams shared facts before disputes — not industry averages or customer claims.
Definitions
Detention vs demurrage
Demurrage often applies to container or equipment time on terminal or site beyond free time. Detention often applies to carrier equipment held beyond agreed windows. Exact definitions vary by contract — your yard needs departure timestamps and stage history, not generic benchmarks.
Act early
Stage-level dwell before penalties
Alerts when staged time crosses thresholds let yard leads assign doors or escalate before total dwell becomes a finance problem.
Next step
See gate, yard, and closeout on your workflow
Request a guided demo — or read the YMS buyer's guide before your RFP.