Detention, lumper and TONU: getting accessorials paid without a fight

Detention is not a rare event. In research published in 2024, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) found that drivers reported being detained at 39.3% of all stops in 2023, and that while 94.5% of fleets charge detention fees, they are paid on fewer than half of those invoices. A broker sits in the middle of that gap: the carrier wants to be paid for the time, the shipper wants proof, and the broker is the one holding both conversations.

The good news is that most disputes come down to two things you control: what was agreed in writing, and what you can prove. This article covers both.

The four charges, defined

What the law does and doesn't say

No federal rule requires a shipper or a broker to pay detention. It is a contract term. FMCSA has studied detention for years and in 2023 proposed a data collection effort to measure it, but we found no detention rule in place as of October 2026. Whether a carrier gets paid depends on what your rate con says.

Lumpers are a little different. Federal law says that when a shipper or receiver requires that a driver be assisted with loading or unloading, the shipper or receiver must either provide that help or pay the carrier for it, and it makes coercing a carrier into loading or unloading, or into hiring help, unlawful (49 U.S.C. 14103). At least one federal appeals court has read that section narrowly, as a ban on coerced unloading rather than on all unloading by drivers, so treat it as background, not as a collection tool. Your contracts should still say who pays the lumper and how it gets reimbursed.

Brokers must also keep a record of each transaction for three years, and each party to a brokered transaction has the right to review it (49 CFR 371.3). FMCSA sent a revised broker transparency proposal to the White House for review on August 27, 2026. It is a proposal, not a rule, but carriers asking to see what was billed to the shipper for "their" detention is a conversation worth being ready for.

Put it in the shipper agreement

You can only pay the carrier comfortably what you can collect from the shipper. Write the terms into the shipper agreement or rate sheet so you are not negotiating them one invoice at a time:

• Free time at pickup and delivery, and when the clock starts: at the appointment time or at check-in, whichever is later.
• Early and late arrivals. A truck that arrives early usually starts the clock at the appointment time. A truck that arrives late may lose detention for that stop.
• The rate, the billing increment (for example per 15 minutes or per hour), and any cap, with the point where detention turns into layover.
• Notice. Many shippers require that you tell them when a truck is approaching detention. Agree how (email, portal, phone) and to whom.
• Proof the shipper will accept, and the deadline for submitting a claim.
• Lumper reimbursement, including any admin fee you add, and whether the shipper wants to pay lumpers directly.
• TONU and layover amounts, and what counts as a cancellation after dispatch.

Put it in the rate con

The rate con is the document the carrier signs, so it has to carry the same terms in plain words, load by load:

• Appointment times and numbers at both ends, and whether they are firm or first-come, first-served.
• Free time, hourly rate, increments and cap. If detention is paid only when the shipper pays you, say so clearly. If not, don't imply it.
• What the driver must do: call on arrival, call again when free time is about to run out, get in and out times on the BOL.
• How lumpers are paid (a payment code you issue, or driver pays and is reimbursed) and what the receipt must show.
• TONU amount and when it applies; layover amount and when it replaces detention.
• What the carrier must send with the invoice to get each accessorial paid, and by when.

Typical structures (common practice, not rules)

There is no standard rate card. What follows is what you will commonly see; every number is negotiable and varies by equipment, market and customer.

• Detention: two hours of free time, then an hourly rate billed in increments, often with a daily cap. In an older DAT survey (2016), brokers and carriers alike defined detention as holding a truck at the dock for more than two hours, and two-thirds of the brokers said they paid detention only when they could collect it from the shipper or consignee.
• Layover: a flat amount per day once the truck is held overnight or past the detention cap, usually instead of detention for that stop.
• TONU: a flat amount when a truck was dispatched and the load canceled, often only if the cancellation came on the pickup day or after the truck was rolling.
• Lumper: reimbursed at cost against a receipt, sometimes with an admin fee from the broker to the shipper.

As one published example, J.B. Hunt's carrier accessorial policy (posted in 2020) starts detention two hours after the arrival check call at $50 an hour with automated updates or $40 if recorded manually, accrues in 15-minute increments, turns into a layover after five hours, pays layover at $250 or $150 a day and TONU at $200 or $150 on the same split, and pays TONU when the truck was dispatched and en route or arrived, or when the load was canceled on the pickup day. That is one company's policy, not a benchmark, but it shows how much detail a good policy carries.

The evidence that ends the argument

Shippers deny claims they can't verify. Build the proof while the truck is still at the dock:

• Appointment confirmation: the time and confirmation number, in writing.
• Arrival: the gate or check-in time, the driver's arrival call or message, and a tracking or ELD location timestamp showing the truck at the facility.
• In and out times on the BOL, written and signed or initialed by the shipper or receiver. This is the single most useful piece of evidence. Ask the driver to get it before leaving.
• Departure: the check-out time and the location timestamp leaving the facility.
• Notice: when you told the shipper the truck was approaching detention, and their reply.
• Lumper receipt: the lumper company's name, the facility, date, amount, load or PO number and payment method. Get a photo of the receipt the same day; paper receipts get lost.
• The cause: one line on why the truck waited (no dock, product not ready, receiver short of labor) and whether the truck arrived on time.

Most denials come from the same short list: the truck was late for the appointment, nobody gave notice, there are no signed times, the receipt is missing, or the claim was sent after the deadline. Each one is avoidable at the time of the load and almost impossible to fix a week later.

Handling disputes with shippers

• Send it fast. Submit the claim with the evidence packet the same day the load delivers, citing the clause in your agreement.
• Lead with facts. Appointment time, arrival time, times on the BOL, the notice you sent. Keep the tone neutral; the person reading it often had nothing to do with the delay.
• Be fair about partial fault. If the truck was 20 minutes late and then waited four hours, propose a reasonable split rather than fighting over all of it.
• Track it by facility. Keep detention hours per shipper and per receiver. Bring the numbers to your rate review. A facility that holds every truck three hours belongs in the price, or in a conversation about appointments.

Handling disputes with carriers

• Say up front what you'll pay and when. If your rate con pays detention only when collected, tell the carrier at booking, not when they invoice.
• Tell them early. If the shipper denies a claim, explain the reason and show the evidence, instead of letting the carrier find out from a short payment.
• Pay what you promised. If the rate con promised detention without conditions and the carrier followed the process, pay it, even when the shipper doesn't. Carriers remember who pays.
• Check the invoice against the rate con. Hours, rate, increments and receipts should match what was agreed and what the evidence shows.

TONU and layover, specifically

TONU fights are usually about timing. Record when you dispatched the carrier, when the shipper canceled, and where the truck was at that moment (a tracking or ELD location helps). Keep the shipper's cancellation in writing, and check whether your shipper agreement lets you bill TONU back.

Layover needs a documented reason: a facility that rescheduled to the next day, or a stop that ran past the detention cap. Agree in advance whether layover replaces detention for that stop, so you don't end up paying both to the carrier while the shipper pays only one.

How Retexa handles this

On our example load 4127, Dallas to Atlanta, the agent logged arrival and check-out times at the receiver, collected the lumper receipt and the signed POD, and asked the rep to approve detention of $75 for 1.5 hours and a $150 lumper. Both went on the shipper's invoice with the proof attached, and the carrier's invoice was checked against the rate con before payment. See how POD and billing work.