How do fleets handle cash flow when detention and layover eat into the week?

Why does detention hit a fleet's cash flow so hard?

A truck waiting at a dock still costs money every hour: the driver's time, the equipment payment, insurance and the load it cannot pick up next. When a morning appointment turns into an afternoon departure, the next load slips, and sometimes a whole day of revenue disappears. Across a fleet, a few bad receivers can quietly reshape an entire month.

Picture a regional carrier running dry van freight between distribution centers in New Jersey and the Carolinas. One receiver routinely holds trucks for hours past the appointment. Each delay pushes a driver into a layover, a missed reload and an empty morning. The invoice for the original load arrives on time, but the week's revenue is short, and the detention charge, if it gets billed at all, trails behind.

The costs arrive now. The accessorial pay, if it comes, arrives weeks later.

How should fleets document detention time?

Document detention from the moment the truck arrives, using records a customer cannot easily dispute. ELD location data, geofence arrival and departure stamps, time-stamped check-in slips, driver notes and photos of the gate all help. The goal is a clean record that matches the rate confirmation's detention terms, so the charge is paid instead of argued.

• Arrival proof: geofence or ELD timestamps showing when the truck reached the facility
• Check-in record: a signed or stamped gate slip with the time
• Departure proof: the bill of lading signed-out time, plus ELD data
• Notice: a message to the broker or shipper when free time is about to run out
• Terms: the detention clause from the rate confirmation or contract

Many fleets set dispatch to send an automatic alert once free time is close to expiring. That single habit turns more detention into paid detention.

How long does accessorial pay usually take?

Accessorial pay often takes longer than linehaul pay because it needs extra approval. A broker may have to collect from the shipper before approving the charge, and incomplete paperwork restarts the clock. Some customers pay accessorials with the load invoice, while others handle them separately. Plan cash flow as if detention pay arrives late, and treat it as a bonus when it does not.

To shorten the wait:

1. Submit the detention charge with the load invoice, not days later
2. Attach all supporting records in one package
3. Match the format and portal each customer requires
4. Track open accessorial charges separately from linehaul receivables
5. Follow up on a set schedule instead of waiting

When does a line of credit fit detention-driven gaps?

A business line of credit fits when detention causes recurring, uneven dips in weekly revenue. You draw during a bad stretch, repay as loads and accessorials are paid, and the limit becomes available again. It works best for fleets with steady deposits across several customers, where the gap is timing rather than a lane that simply does not make money.

A line is usually a better match than a lump sum, because detention does not arrive on a schedule. One week is clean, the next loses two truck-days. Read how a line of credit works for fleets. For a one-time gap you can size, such as a single customer's delayed accessorial batch, working capital may be simpler.

When should you fix the customer instead of borrowing?

If one shipper or receiver causes most of your detention and rarely pays for it, borrowing to absorb the losses just funds their inefficiency. Raise the issue with the customer, reprice the lane, change appointment windows or walk away from the freight. Funding should bridge honest timing gaps, not subsidize a facility that burns your trucks' hours every week.

Ask three questions about each problem facility:

• Does the rate on this lane still work after the hours lost?
• Is detention being billed and actually paid?
• Would the truck earn more on a different lane?

Our guide to East Coast lane economics walks through judging a lane before you commit more trucks or more borrowing to it.

What does a weekly cash calendar look like for a fleet with detention?

A weekly cash calendar keeps three numbers apart that fleets often blend together: detention you have earned but nobody has approved, invoices that are approved but not yet paid, and cash that has actually landed in the bank. Only the third number pays fuel, tolls and payroll. The example below uses made-up figures to show how a fleet can be owed money and still run short in the same week.

Read it from the right-hand column. In week 3 this fleet is owed $40,200 on paper ($4,200 of earned detention plus $36,000 of approved invoices), yet only $8,800 is in the bank, and that is the number payroll and fuel have to come out of. Collections that slip from $24,000 to $18,000 while costs hold near $23,900 a week produce two negative weeks in a row. Week 4 recovers only because a batch of approved invoices finally paid. Nothing about the fleet changed; the timing did.

To build your own, use one row per week and fill it from records, not estimates:

1. Start with the cash balance in the operating account, not the receivables total
2. List earned detention separately and count it as cash only after the customer approves and pays it
3. Put approved invoices on the date the customer's terms say they pay, then add a few days of slack
4. Enter fuel, tolls and payroll by the week they leave the account
5. Mark the lowest ending balance. If it is lower than one week of costs, that is the week to plan for

If a financing product is part of the plan, the funds are deposited to the business, and the business pays its own fuel, tolls and payroll. A line of credit limit is the most you could draw, not a lump sum paid out at approval, and anything drawn has to be repaid. Freight factoring, which sells invoices to an outside company, is a separate approach some fleets compare. This calendar uses sample numbers only and is not a promise of approval, amount or timing.

How I-95 Funding helps fleets carry the gap

I-95 Funding helps fleets get funded. We look at your deposits and customer mix, then compare lines of credit and working capital options that fit how your revenue actually moves. Each offer is explained in plain terms, including amount, total repayment and payment schedule, before you decide anything.

Requirements vary by product and funder; many look at time in business, monthly revenue and credit. Freight factoring is an alternative some owners compare. See how it works, or start an application when you are ready.

Updated September 14, 2026 · I-95 Funding Team