Drayage, demurrage and detention at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach

What drayage is at the San Pedro Bay ports

Drayage is the short truck move of a container between a marine terminal and a nearby location: a warehouse, a transload facility, a rail ramp or a container yard. At the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which sit side by side on San Pedro Bay, an import drayage move normally has three legs: the trucker collects the loaded container from the terminal, delivers it for unloading, then returns the empty container to the terminal or a depot the carrier names.

Drayage is a separate service from ocean freight unless your booking includes delivery. On a port-to-port booking, someone has to book the trucker, check that the container is released, secure a terminal appointment and plan the empty return. Each of those steps has a clock attached, and the clocks are what create demurrage and detention.

1. 1 Demurrage clock Discharged at the terminal Container comes off the vessel and becomes available once it is released
2. 2 Gate out Pickup appointment Trucker collects the loaded container with a chassis
3. 3 Detention clock Delivery and unloading Live unload, or the container is dropped and unloaded later
4. 4 Clock stops Empty return Empty container goes back to the terminal or a named depot

If your goods are going on to Amazon, our guide from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to Amazon FBA covers the full route through receiving and prep. This guide stays on the port side: the truck move and the charges around it. It assumes full containers; if your shipment is smaller, read FCL vs LCL shipping to the USA, since LCL cargo is collected from a container freight station rather than as a whole box.

Availability, holds and terminal appointments

A container can be on the terminal and still not be ready to leave. Before a trucker can collect it, three things usually need to be true:

• The container is discharged and available. Terminals show a container as available once it is off the vessel and in the yard. When the FMC reviews demurrage, it looks at whether free time and charges are tied to when the cargo is actually available for retrieval.
• No holds remain. Common holds are a customs hold, another agency hold (for example FDA), a freight hold until ocean freight and carrier charges are paid, and a line hold for missing documents. Every hold has to be cleared before the gate will release the box.
• A pickup appointment is booked. Most terminals in Los Angeles and Long Beach run appointment systems. Your trucker books a time window, and appointments can be scarce when a large vessel discharges or when a terminal limits gate hours.

The practical point: the release and the appointment are your responsibility, or your provider's, from the day the vessel arrives. Waiting for an arrival notice before starting the paperwork is the most common way to lose free days.

Chassis: the piece people forget

A container cannot move on the road without a chassis, the wheeled frame it sits on. In Southern California, most chassis come from shared chassis pools rather than from the shipping line, and the trucker usually sources one for each move. That has three consequences for your costs:

• Chassis usage is billed per day. The trucker usually passes on chassis rental for every day the chassis is under your container, including days it waits at your warehouse.
• Chassis shortages delay pickup. If chassis are short at a terminal, a container can sit while free time runs, even with every hold cleared.
• Splits cost extra. When the chassis has to be collected from one location and the container from another, truckers often add a split or repositioning charge.

Ask your trucker how chassis are charged, which pool they use and what happens if no chassis is available on your appointment day. These charges generally sit outside the FMC billing rule described below, which covers invoices from ocean carriers, marine terminal operators and NVOCCs, not from truckers or chassis providers.

Demurrage vs. detention vs. per diem

Demurrage and detention are both charges for keeping a container longer than the free time allowed. The difference is where the container is while the charge runs.

In practice, "per diem" is the name carriers and truckers often use for detention, especially when the charge is billed to the trucking company under its equipment interchange agreement and then passed on to the cargo owner. Some carriers combine demurrage and detention into a single free time allowance. Read the carrier's tariff or your service contract to see which applies to your container.

Demurrage is about terminal space: a loaded box blocking the yard. Detention is about equipment: the carrier's container (and the chassis under it) not being available for its next booking. You can avoid demurrage by collecting the container quickly and still pay detention if the container then waits at your warehouse for days before it is unloaded.

How free time works

Free time is the number of days you can use the terminal or the container before charges start. It is set by the ocean carrier's tariff, the marine terminal's schedule or your negotiated service contract. It is not set by law, and it varies by carrier, terminal, container type and contract. There is no single number for Los Angeles or Long Beach.

Before the vessel arrives, find out:

• How many free days apply to demurrage and to detention, and whether they are separate or combined.
• When each clock starts: discharge, availability, or gate out.
• Whether weekends and holidays count.
• The daily rate after free time, and whether it rises after a certain number of days.
• The last free day for pickup and the last free day for empty return, as shown by the terminal and the carrier.

Under the FMC rule, every demurrage or detention invoice must state the free time allowed, its start and end dates, and the container availability date. Write these down when the container arrives, so you can check the invoice against your own record.

If free time is tight for your volumes, it is worth negotiating more days in your service contract or with your freight forwarder before you ship, rather than trying to recover charges afterward. Our guide on the cost of importing into the USA shows where port-side charges sit in your landed cost, and Incoterms for shipping to the USA explains how your sales terms decide who pays them.

The FMC billing rule and your dispute rights

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) regulates how ocean carriers, marine terminal operators and non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOCCs) bill demurrage and detention. Its Demurrage and Detention Billing Requirements rule, codified at 46 CFR part 541, took effect on May 28, 2024. The invoice content requirements in section 541.6 waited for federal paperwork approval and took effect on the same date, as the FMC confirmed in a May 2024 notice.

What an invoice must include

Under 46 CFR 541.6, a demurrage or detention invoice must be accurate and include:

• Identifying information: the bill of lading number, the container number, the port of discharge and the basis for why you are the party liable for the charge.
• Timing information: the invoice date and due date, the free time allowed, the start and end dates of free time, the container availability date (for imports) and the specific dates being charged.
• Rate information: the total amount due, the tariff, terminal schedule or contract the rate comes from, and the specific rates applied.
• Dispute information: a contact for questions and fee mitigation requests, a link or code to a public page describing what documents a dispute needs, and the time frames for disputing and for the billing party's answer.
• Certifications: statements that the charges comply with the FMC's demurrage and detention rules and that the billing party's own performance did not cause or contribute to the charges.

If an invoice leaves out required information, the FMC says the billed party has no obligation to pay that charge (FMC announcement).

Deadlines on both sides

• Issuing the invoice: carriers and terminals must issue it within 30 calendar days after the charge was last incurred. If they do not, you are not required to pay it (46 CFR 541.7).
• Your dispute window: you must have at least 30 calendar days from the invoice date to request mitigation, a refund or a waiver.
• Their answer: the billing party must try to resolve a timely request within 30 calendar days, unless you both agree to a longer period (46 CFR 541.8).

One part of the 2024 rule no longer applies. The section that limited who could be billed was set aside by a federal appeals court in September 2025, and the FMC formally removed it on December 29, 2025 (Federal Register notice). The FMC stated that the rest of the rule, including invoice contents, timing and disputes, remains in effect.

When a charge is unreasonable

The FMC's interpretive rule at 46 CFR 545.5 says the Commission judges demurrage and detention by whether they work as an incentive to move cargo. Charges that cannot change your behavior, for example when the terminal had no appointments or would not accept empty returns, are the classic basis for a dispute. If the carrier refuses, you can file a charge complaint with the FMC. For demurrage and detention, the carrier carries the burden of proving its charges were reasonable.

Clean Truck Fund and other port-side charges

The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach each collect a Clean Truck Fund rate from cargo owners. As of the Port of Los Angeles's May 2025 update, the rate is $10 for every loaded twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) moved through the port by a conventional drayage truck, which is $20 for a 40 ft container. Cargo moved on zero-emission trucks is exempt, and certain low-NOx trucks have a temporary exemption through December 31, 2027 (Port of Los Angeles). The Port of Long Beach collects the same rate under its own program. Check the current amount before you budget, as port charges can change.

Beyond port fees, drayage quotes in Southern California often list accessorial charges. Ask about each before you book:

• Waiting time at the terminal or at the delivery address beyond a free period.
• Pre-pull and yard storage, when the trucker pulls a container before the last free day and holds it in its own yard until the warehouse can take it.
• Chassis and chassis splits, as described above.
• Dry run, when the truck arrives but cannot collect or deliver, for example because a hold was not released.
• Overweight or hazardous cargo surcharges.

Pre-pull often costs less than demurrage when the terminal is congested. Compare the two for each container rather than defaulting to either.

Customs and FDA holds as a cause of demurrage

A hold stops the container from leaving the terminal while the demurrage clock keeps running. For imports, the most common causes are:

• No customs release yet, because the entry was filed late, the Importer Security Filing (ISF) was late or incomplete, or documents did not match the cargo.
• A CBP exam. If CBP selects the container for examination, it stays on hold until the exam is complete, and a more intensive exam can add extra trucking, handling and days.
• An FDA or other agency hold, for example on food, cosmetics or products with agency reporting requirements, until the agency reviews or samples the shipment.

The FMC's interpretive rule lists government inspections as one of the factors it may consider when deciding whether demurrage was reasonable, but a hold caused by your own late or incorrect filings is hard to dispute. Prevention works better: correct commercial invoices and packing lists, an ISF filed on time, and agency requirements (such as FDA Prior Notice for food) checked before the goods leave origin. Our guide on how U.S. customs clearance works explains each step.

Abanro handles U.S. customs clearance as part of your shipment, so the entry and the terminal pickup are planned together from the vessel's arrival. If a container is already held or stranded at the port, Shipment Recovery can help you work out the fastest way to release it.

Checklist to avoid demurrage and detention

Before the vessel arrives

• Know your free time for demurrage and detention, when each clock starts, and the daily rates.
• File the ISF on time and have the commercial invoice, packing list and any agency filings ready.
• Book the trucker in advance and confirm how it handles chassis, pre-pull and waiting time.
• Confirm the delivery warehouse can receive the container and unload it promptly.
• Agree with your buyer or supplier who pays port-side charges under your Incoterms rule.

When the container is available

• Check every hold daily until all are released: customs, agency, freight and line.
• Book the pickup appointment as soon as the container is released, ahead of the last free day.
• Keep screenshots of unavailable appointments, terminal closures and refused empty returns, with dates.

After gate out

• Unload quickly. A live unload, where the truck waits, keeps detention and chassis days to a minimum.
• Return the empty to the location the carrier names, and keep the gate-in record.
• Check every demurrage and detention invoice against 46 CFR 541.6, and dispute within the window if anything is missing or wrong.

Unloading near the port is the step you control most. Abanro's warehouse in Orange County, near the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, unloads floor-loaded containers and counts cartons against your packing list through receiving and inspection, so the empty can go back sooner. If your container needs to be split between Amazon, retailers and storage, read our guide on transloading and cross-docking in Southern California. For freight arriving at either port, see our Long Beach 3PL and Los Angeles 3PL pages; starting prices are on our pricing page.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Free time, tariffs, port charges and FMC rules change, so confirm them for your shipment before you rely on them.

Sources and further reading

1. FMC publishes final rule on detention and demurrage billing practices, Federal Maritime Commission
2. Demurrage and Detention Billing Requirements, final rule (February 26, 2024), Federal Register
3. Demurrage and Detention Billing Requirements, announcement of effective date (May 14, 2024), Federal Register
4. Demurrage and Detention Billing Requirements, removal of 46 CFR 541.4 (December 29, 2025), Federal Register
5. 46 CFR 541.6, Contents of invoice, Code of Federal Regulations (Legal Information Institute)
6. 46 CFR 541.7, Issuance of demurrage and detention invoices, Code of Federal Regulations (Legal Information Institute)
7. 46 CFR 541.8, Requests for fee mitigation, refund, or waiver, Code of Federal Regulations (Legal Information Institute)
8. 46 CFR 545.5, Interpretive rule on demurrage and detention, Code of Federal Regulations (Legal Information Institute)
9. Guidance on the charge complaint interim procedure, Federal Maritime Commission
10. Port of Los Angeles adopts near-term Clean Truck spending plan (May 2025), Port of Los Angeles

Sources checked on October 20, 2026