Demurrage and Detention Calculator
Tiered daily charges once free time runs out.
Calculate container demurrage and detention with free days and escalating daily tiers, itemised day by day so the invoice can be checked.
Usually counted from discharge rather than from vessel arrival. Check which your carrier uses.
Demurrage owed
$1100.00
9 chargeable days
Demurrage runs while the container sits at the terminal before you collect it. Delays caused by the terminal or by customs holds are sometimes grounds for waiver.
How the Demurrage and Detention Calculator works
Demurrage and detention are the same arithmetic pointed at two different problems: demurrage is your container still sitting inside the terminal past its free days, detention is your container still out on the road past its free days. Both escalate in tiers, which is why a two-day overrun feels survivable and a twelve-day one does not, and why the invoice is worth checking line by line.
Also known as: D&D calculator · container penalty calculator · free time calculator
Not financial advice. Marketplace fees change, and they vary by country, plan and seller status. Every rate here is an editable default, not a quoted price, check the platform's current fee schedule before you price a product against it. This is not tax or business advice.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between demurrage and detention?
Demurrage is charged while the container sits at the terminal beyond free time, before you collect it. Detention is charged after collection, while the container is in your possession off-dock. One invoice often contains both, at different rates and with separate free-day allowances.
How is demurrage calculated?
Chargeable days are calendar days past the free-time allowance, billed at a rate that steps up in bands. A typical structure is a lower rate for the first few chargeable days, a higher one for the next band, and an open-ended top rate after that.
How many free days do I get?
Commonly three to seven, set by the carrier and the port, and sometimes negotiable on volume contracts. Free days usually count from discharge rather than from vessel arrival, which is a distinction that has caught out plenty of importers by a day or two.
Can demurrage charges be disputed?
Sometimes. Delays caused by the terminal, by customs holds outside your control, or by the carrier's own documentation can be grounds for waiver, and rules in some jurisdictions constrain what can be billed when a container was not actually collectable. Itemise the days first, then dispute the specific ones.