Despite modest progress on the issue in recent years, truck/driver detention remains a multi-billion dollar issue for carriers.

Truck driver detention is defined as the additional time a commercial motor vehicle driver must wait at a customer facility to pick up or deliver freight beyond their scheduled appointment time.

According to a new analysis by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), based on surveys of almost 600 truckers, the overall costs of being detained at customer facilities for more than two hours remain substantial.

As seen in the graphic below, drivers saw detention times of more than 4 hours 4.9% of the time in 2023, 2-4 hours 5.0% of the time, and 0-2 hours on 29.4% of pick-ups and deliveries. Drivers reported being detained in 39.3 % of all stops.

ATRI added that the trucking industry lost $3.6 billion in direct expenses and $11.5 billion in lost productivity from driver detention in 2023 – big numbers.

“Detention is so common that many industry professionals have accepted it as inevitable without realizing the true extent of its costs,” said Chad England, CEO of carrier C.R. England.

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