Detention, layover and TONU charges drafted from the check-in and check-out record.

Today the driver messages dispatch that they're still waiting, and later someone in billing works out whether the customer owes anything: when the truck checked in against the appointment, when it left, how much free time the customer's terms allow, whether the stop ran into a second day, and what proof exists. Then the charge goes on the invoice, goes to the broker as a request, or gets dropped.

For the test, AI does that work on copies of loads your office already billed. Each draft shows the charge, the clock it was figured on, and the record behind each time, or lists the load as unsupported with the reason. Nothing is billed, requested or sent, and your reviewer compares each draft with what your team actually claimed and what the customer paid.

Whose delay it was. FMCSA's leasing rules define detention as a shipper or receiver holding a trailer, with or without the tractor and driver, beyond the free time allocated for the shipment, for reasons not attributable to the carrier. Customer terms make that concrete. One national food manufacturer's published motor carrier agreement pays detention only when the truck arrives at or before its scheduled appointment, starts the free time at the appointment rather than at arrival, requires the driver, tractor and trailer all to be on the premises, and pays nothing for empty trailers staged in its drop yard. An early arrival doesn't start the clock sooner, and a late one can cost the whole charge.

The proof the customer accepts. That agreement asks for a statement of record of when the truck checked in and checked out: either an EDI 214 status update or a signed bill of lading with the times written on it, and it keeps the right to audit those times and take back detention it finds wrong. Inside a 214 those moments travel as status codes, such as X3 for arrived at pickup, AF for departed pickup with the shipment, X1 for arrived at delivery, D1 for completed unloading and CD for departed delivery. The draft cites the record that supplied each time, and when two records disagree it shows both.

What the log can and can't show. An ELD is a supporting witness, not the gate clock. When a truck in driving status stands still for five minutes, the device prompts the driver and, with no answer inside a minute, switches the status to on-duty not driving. Its position is good to roughly a mile, and the record of duty status gives it as a distance and direction from a nearby city or town rather than a dock door. Where there is one, the driver also enters or confirms the shipping document number on the log, which ties the hours to the load. So the draft uses log time to back up the customer's in and out times, and lists any load where the log is the only proof.

Layover, trailer dwell and cancelled loads. Under the same published terms, detention and layover can't both be billed in one 24-hour period: layover counts each full day after the first, and the carrier has to report it to a customer representative when it first occurs. A trailer left without a tractor earns its own charge after free days that begin the day after the delivery appointment or the actual delivery, whichever is later, and only if the customer is warned at least 24 hours before charges begin. Truck ordered not used pays when the customer cancels a pickup with less than 12 hours' notice, not when the carrier pulls its truck without approval, and a driver-assist fee must be submitted and approved within 72 hours of delivery. The draft applies each customer's own windows and lists any charge that missed one.

The paper trail, and what your reviewer watches. The hours-of-service rules at 49 CFR 395.11 count dispatch and trip records, fleet messaging records and expense receipts tied to on-duty, not-driving time as supporting documents, and give a driver 13 days to turn them in. Those are the papers a detention charge stands on, so the draft gathers them stop by stop. On a leased truck, the owner-operator's lease decides how much of a collected charge reaches their settlement, and the draft notes it. Your reviewer, the person who knows your accessorial billing best, usually the billing lead, checks the clock first, then the proof, then every charge the draft held back.

After your reviewer's yes, charges are drafted for newly delivered loads for about 30 days.

Each draft waits for your billing clerk to approve it before it goes on an invoice, into a broker's accessorial request or onto a customer's portal, and a held charge stays held until a person clears it. Any argument with a customer over a charge stays with your team.

No other job joins that month. The next one is priced by itself.