Detention

What is Detention in logistics?

After a ship has been unloaded, there is a free time given to a consignee to unload his goods from a container, then return the container to the shipping company. If the free time allowed passes and the container is not returned, the consignee will be subjected to a fee known as detention.

Basically, a detention is a fee payable by a shipper for holding on to a container beyond the free allotted time after leaving the port/terminal to load or unload the container.

Depending on the agreement between the carrier and the shipper, the detention fee may be avoid if the container stays beyond an allotted free time.