container sits inside the terminal beyond its free time. Detention is charged
when the container is outside the terminal — with you — beyond its free time.
They are billed by the carrier, they run on different clocks, and most large bills are
not caused by one big delay but by three or four small ones stacking up over a weekend.
- Demurrage = container still inside the terminal. Detention = container out with you. Two clocks, sometimes running back to back.
- The dispute is rarely about the number of free days — it is about calendar days vs working days, and when the clock starts and stops.
- Big bills are usually four small delays stacking into a weekend, not one failure. That is why arguing blame afterwards rarely recovers the money.
- Highest-value habit: send documents while the vessel is still sailing, and book haulage before the release, not after.
The difference, in one sentence each
- Demurrage — the container is still in the port. You have not
collected it (import) or it is waiting to load (export), and free time has run out. - Detention — the container has left the port and is with you. You
are unpacking, or the empty has not been returned to the depot yet. - Terminal storage — sometimes billed separately by the terminal
itself, on top of the carrier’s demurrage. Two charges, two invoices, same delay.
The practical consequence: a container that clears customs late and then takes three
days to unpack can be racking up both charges in sequence, from two different
clocks, without anyone at your end noticing until the invoice arrives.
Free time is not as simple as “X days”
This is where most disputes actually live. Free time varies by carrier, by trade lane
and by what was negotiated at booking. But the argument is rarely about the number of
days — it is about how they were counted:
- Calendar days or working days? A carrier counting calendar days
charges through the weekend. One counting working days does not. Same shipment,
very different bill. - When does the clock start? Discharge from the vessel, terminal
gate-in, or availability for release — carriers do not all use the same trigger. - Do public holidays count? In a market with as many holidays as
Malaysia, this is not a small question. - When does it stop? For detention, on gate-in of the empty at the
designated depot — not when your truck leaves your yard.
Ask for the free time and the counting basis at booking, in writing.
“Seven days free” means two different things depending on the answer.
Why the bills are always bigger than expected
In our experience a demurrage bill is almost never traceable to a single mistake. The
typical pattern is four small things in a row:
- A document arrives a day late, so the declaration is filed a day late.
- Customs raises a routine query, which takes half a day to answer.
- That pushes release into a Friday afternoon, and haulage cannot be arranged in
time. - The weekend counts as two chargeable days.
None of those four is anyone’s serious failure. Together they turn a shipment that
should have cost nothing extra into a four-figure invoice — and because no single party
caused it, everyone involved feels the charge belongs to someone else.
That is also why arguing about blame after the fact rarely recovers the money. The
leverage is earlier, in the days when the clock had not started yet.
How to actually prevent it
- Send documents while the vessel is still sailing. The single
highest-value habit. A classification or permit problem found at sea costs nothing;
found at the port it costs storage. - Know your last free day, in writing, on day one. Not “about a
week” — the actual date, and whether it counts weekends. - Watch the Friday trap. A release obtained late on Friday with no
haulage booked is two chargeable days you cannot recover. If the release will be
late, book the truck first. - Book haulage before you have the release, not after. Trucks are
scarce in peak weeks; the release is worthless if nothing can collect. - Return empties promptly, to the right depot. Detention runs until
the empty is gated in at the designated depot. Returning to the wrong one
does not stop the clock. - Negotiate free time at booking, not after. Extra free days are
cheap to ask for when the carrier wants your cargo, and impossible once the
container is sitting there. - Ask who is watching the clock. If your forwarder cannot tell you
the last free day without checking, nobody is.
If you have already been billed
Some charges are genuinely disputable. Worth checking before you pay:
- Was the counting basis applied as agreed? Weekends and holidays
charged against a working-day agreement are the most common recoverable error. - When was the container actually available? If release was delayed
by something on the carrier’s or terminal’s side, those days are arguable. - When was the empty actually returned? Compare the depot gate-in
record against the billed end date. - Is the same delay billed twice? Terminal storage and carrier
demurrage covering the same days is worth questioning.
Be realistic about the outcome. Where the delay was genuinely shared, a partial waiver
negotiated quickly is usually a better result than a long argument for a full waiver.
Carriers deal with these requests constantly, and the ones that get resolved are the ones
raised immediately with dates and documents attached.
Send us your vessel and container details. We will confirm the free time and how it is counted, and tell you exactly what has to happen before the clock runs out.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between demurrage and detention?
Demurrage applies while the container is inside the terminal beyond free time.
Detention applies once it has left the terminal and is with you. Some carriers use
different wording, which is why the invoice line and the free-time terms matter more than
the label.
Who pays demurrage and detention?
It depends on the Incoterm and on what caused the delay. In practice the party named on
the bill of lading is billed first and then recovers from whoever was responsible —
which is why agreeing responsibility at booking saves an argument later.
How much is demurrage at Port Klang?
It varies by carrier, container type and how many days you are into the charge, and it
typically escalates in tiers — the second week costs more per day than the first.
Your carrier’s tariff is the authority; ask for it at booking.
Does free time include weekends and public holidays?
Sometimes. It depends on whether the agreement is in calendar days or working days.
This single question is behind a large share of disputed invoices, so get the answer in
writing before the container arrives.
Can demurrage charges be waived?
Partially, sometimes — particularly where the delay was caused by something
outside your control or where the counting was applied incorrectly. Raise it immediately
with dates and supporting documents. Waiting weakens the case.
Someone should be watching the clock
TNS Log Services holds its own customs agent licence and arranges freight, clearance
and haulage as one file — so the team that files your declaration is the team that
knows your last free day and has the truck booked before the release comes through.
See the full import
process, or
message
us on WhatsApp with your vessel and container details — we will tell you your
last free day and what has to happen before it.