Detention hits 40% of loads and costs the industry $15 billion a year
ATRI's 2024 study shows detention occurs on nearly 40% of all stops, 56% for reefer loads. The industry loses 135 million hours a year, and most fleets collect less than the true cost.
How much does detention actually cost the trucking industry?
Detention costs the trucking industry over $15 billion a year, according to a 2024 study by the American Transportation Research Institute. The problem hits nearly 40% of all stops, rising to 56% for refrigerated loads. That adds up to 135 million hours of detention annually in the for-hire trucking sector.
ATRI's 2024 study updated an earlier analysis from 2019. The data shows detention is so widespread that many industry professionals have accepted it as inevitable, according to Chad England, CEO of C.R. England.
"Detention is so common that many industry professionals have accepted it as inevitable without realizing the true extent of its cost," England said in a news release about the ATRI results.
Why detention costs more than the fees fleets collect
Even when detention is paid out, the cost is far greater than the fees fleets collect. ATRI's data shows that the true impact of detention extends beyond the hourly rate a shipper or receiver might pay.
For perspective, 135 million hours of detention is enough time to complete almost 1 million round-trip lanes from Chicago to Los Angeles. That's productive capacity lost to waiting at docks.
Truck detention was voted the fifth-highest issue for drivers in ATRI's survey. The problem affects driver retention, fuel costs, and the ability to run additional loads in a given week.
What reefer fleets face
Refrigerated loads see detention on 56% of stops, compared to 40% across all freight types. That means a reefer owner-operator running five loads a week can expect to hit detention on nearly three of them.
The higher detention rate for reefer freight compounds the cost for small fleets running temperature-controlled equipment. Reefer units burn fuel while waiting, and perishable cargo often requires tighter delivery windows that make recovery time harder to find.
What this means for a 3-truck fleet
A three-truck fleet running 15 loads a week will hit detention on six of them, based on the 40% industry average. If each detention event costs two hours of driver time and fuel, that's 12 hours a week the fleet can't bill for productive miles.
At current diesel prices and driver pay rates, those 12 hours represent lost revenue that detention fees rarely cover in full. ATRI's finding that the true cost exceeds collected fees means small fleets are absorbing the difference every week.
For fleets running reefer equipment, the math is worse. At a 56% detention rate, the same three-truck fleet would hit detention on eight of 15 loads, adding four more hours of unproductive time each week.
The industry has treated detention as a cost of doing business for years. ATRI's 2024 data shows the scale of that cost is larger than most fleets realize, and the fees collected don't make them whole.
