Demurrage and detention charges run on two clocks, one inside the terminal gate and one outside it. How shrinking free time, warehouse turn times and transloading decide which shipments get billed.
-- Demurrage and detention charges at the Port of Houston come down to a question most shippers reach too late: how long does the clock run before the container moves? Both are time charges, which is why the fix is almost always scheduling rather than negotiation.
More details can be found at https://www.excargo.com/demurrage-detention-port-houston/
The two run on separate clocks. Demurrage is what the terminal charges when a container stays on terminal property past its allotted free time. Detention, sometimes billed as per diem, is what the ocean carrier charges when its container or chassis stays out in the field past the window. One clock runs inside the gate and the other outside it, and a single shipment can incur both.
Carrier policy has tightened. Lines that historically offered four or five business days are now writing shorter windows, including three day arrangements. Allowances vary by steamship line, equipment type, terminal and individual shipping agreement, so a shipper planning around five days who actually holds three loses two before anyone opens the file.
On billing, the Federal Maritime Commission rule in effect since May 2024 requires the invoice within 30 calendar days of when charges were last incurred, bars billing multiple parties for the same charge, and gives the billed party at least 30 days to request mitigation, refund, or waiver.
Knowing when free time expires is the first practical step, and an estimated delivery date is not a substitute. Port Houston’s Lynx portal carries container availability, vessel schedules, gate transactions, equipment details, and holds across both Bayport and Barbours Cut. A pre-alert turns that data into protection, letting a drayage provider identify the Last Free Day before the container arrives and reserve capacity while capacity still exists.
The warehouse is more often the constraint than the port. Port Houston publishes truck turn times every week, and in the report covering the week of October 19, 2026, Barbours Cut averaged 43 minutes and Bayport 44, with single transactions in the mid to high 30s. A one-hour truck turn at the receiving warehouse is a reasonable benchmark against those figures. When a truck instead waits several hours to be unloaded, capacity tightens across the fleet, drivers burn available drive time sitting still, chassis charges accrue, and an unload finishing too late to terminate the container back at the port adds another yard trip and another day.
How far out a warehouse is booked, and whether it accepts cargo across its full operating window or only a narrow slot, shapes demurrage exposure more than anything happening at the terminal gate.
More information on container drayage is available at https://www.excargo.com/services/drayage/
In many cases, the more effective move is to take the cargo out of the ocean container altogether. Transloading transfers it into a domestic trailer and sends the ocean container back to the terminal, stopping the per diem and chassis clocks while the shipment continues on equipment that suits it better. Draying a van one way can cost less than moving an ocean container roundtrip, because the container was designed for international transportation rather than final mile distribution. A properly planned one way move also cuts deadhead miles, lowering diesel consumption and fuel surcharge exposure.
Street turns offer a further option. Matching an available import container directly to an export booking switches the box from import to export without a trip back to the terminal in between, stopping the per diem clock immediately and removing two moves from the plan.
Port Houston provides tools for the rest. Lynx handles container information, and Express Pass, now a mandatory appointment for truckers accessing the container terminals, lets trucking companies initiate transactions before arriving at the gate. Technology alone does not solve it. What works is connecting the chain from steamship line to port to drayage provider to warehouse to transload to final delivery, so everyone can see the schedule and knows the backup plan.
Shippers interested in reviewing free time exposure on a specific lane can request a rate at https://www.excargo.com/customer-quote/
Contact Info:
Name: Balaam Valdez
Email: Send Email
Organization: Excargo Services
Address: 4300 Malone Dr Ste 100, Pasadena, TX 77507, United States, Pasadena, Texas 77507, United States
Website: https://www.excargo.com/
Source: NewsNetwork
Release ID: 89209131
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