A rate confirmation is a contract. Whatever isn’t written on it, you’ll be arguing about three weeks after delivery, from a position of weakness. The biggest thing usually missing? Detention. Here’s what the research says, and the checklist we use before any truck moves.
01What the research found
The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), trucking’s main research group, surveyed 587 drivers and 245 carriers about 2023. What it found:
| Stops where drivers were detained | 39.3% |
| …for reefer drivers | 56.2% |
| Hours lost per driver per year | 117 to 209, depending on sector |
| Fleets that charge detention | 94.5%, but paid on fewer than half of those invoices |
| Detained trucks’ average speed vs. others | 14.6% faster |
“Detention is so common that many industry professionals have accepted it as inevitable.”
That last number in the table is the dangerous one: detained trucks drive faster afterwards. Every hour at a dock is an hour off your 14-hour clock, and the pressure to make it up lands on the road.
02The rate con checklist
- The rate, all-in. Line haul plus fuel, written as one total. If there’s a quick-pay fee, the percentage should be on the page.
- Detention. How many hours free (2 is common), the hourly rate after that, any daily cap, and how you prove it: in/out times on the BOL, your ELD, or an app check-in. No detention line, no load until there is one.
- Layover and TONU. What you get if the load is pushed to tomorrow, or cancelled after you’ve driven to the shipper (truck ordered, not used).
- The freight itself. Weight, length and width, number of pieces, commodity. For flatbed: tarps, chains, edge protection, and whether tarp pay is included.
- Appointments. Set appointment or first-come-first-served? FCFS at a busy shipper is detention waiting to happen.
- Payment terms. How many days, paid to whom (your factoring company?), and what paperwork they need.
- The small print. Late fees, “fines” for missed check calls, claim language. Strike what you didn’t agree to before you sign.
- Names and numbers. The broker’s MC number on the rate con should match what you checked on SAFER.
03When detention starts
Note your in-time the minute you arrive for an on-time appointment, not when they finally take your paperwork. Text or email the broker when free time is about to run out, with your arrival time. A timestamped message beats a phone call every time when the invoice is argued later.
04And afterwards
You have a federal right to see the broker’s record of your load, including what the broker was paid (49 CFR 371.3). Many drivers never ask. Ask.
Bottom line
Detention is the rule, not the exception, and most of it goes unpaid. The only fix you control is the paper: free time, hourly rate and proof, written on the rate con before you roll.
Our dispatch fights for these lines on every load. See how it works or call 434-394-0605.
Sources
- ATRI: “New Research Documents Substantial Financial and Safety Impacts from Truck Driver Detention”, Sept 10, 2024
- 49 CFR 395.3: the 14-hour rule (eCFR)
- 49 CFR 371.3: Records to be kept by brokers (eCFR)
Rules quoted from the official text as of 24 October 2026. Rules change: check the source before you rely on it.