Demurrage And Detention In 2026: How To Use Visibility Data In Your Tariff Negotiations

Between 2020 and 2025, the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) reports that just nine major carriers collected roughly 15.4 billion USD in demurrage and detention charges.^[1] Even with softer volumes and lower average fees since the peak of the pandemic, D and D remains one of the most painful and unpredictable line items in many ocean budgets.

At the same time, two things have changed:

Regulators have pushed for clearer, data backed billing rules, most visibly in the FMC’s Demurrage and Detention Billing Requirements in the United States.
Container visibility tools have matured to the point where many shippers can reconstruct what happened at the shipment and lane level instead of relying on email trails and manual spreadsheets.

This article is written for supply chain and logistics leaders who want to walk into 2026 carrier and forwarder negotiations with more than a vague complaint that “we pay too much in D and D”. It explains how to use visibility data to:

Understand where and why you really pay demurrage and detention today.
Turn container timelines into evidence for disputes and tariff talks.
Translate patterns into lane specific asks that carriers can act on.

Please note nothing here is legal advice. The regulatory examples focus on U.S. rules because they are the clearest published framework. But the core approach is foundational: better data and documentation give you better leverage, regardless of jurisdiction.

TL;DR: How Visibility Data Changes Your D And D Negotiations

D and D is no longer a black box. Regulators now require more detailed invoices and clearer time limits for issuing and disputing charges, especially in the U.S. Your own visibility data can mirror or exceed that detail.
Evidence beats anecdotes. Container timelines that show discharge, availability, holds, and gate out events allow you to separate carrier or terminal driven delays from your own internal issues.
Lane profiles are more useful than global averages. Before you ask for better tariffs, identify your top ten lanes by D and D spend and understand what actually drives delays in each one.
Tariff asks should be specific and local. Use data to argue for more free time, different start points, or special rules on problem ports and terminals instead of generic percentage discounts.
Visibility is a negotiation asset, not just an operations tool. Platforms like TRADLINX can give you standardized ocean events and timelines that make it easier to analyse D and D patterns and test tariff scenarios before you sign.

1. Why Demurrage And Detention Look Different In 2026

Demurrage and detention have always existed as a way to incentivise container fluidity. In practice they also became a significant revenue stream during the congestion peaks of 2020 to 2022. The FMC estimates that nine large carriers charged about 8.9 billion USD in D and D during those peak years alone, before total collections reached 15.4 billion USD by early 2025.^[1][2]

Regulators responded. In the United States, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA 2022) and subsequent FMC rulemaking focused on two main problems:

Lack of transparency in how D and D charges were calculated and billed.
Invoices issued long after the fact, with limited information and short dispute windows.

On 26 February 2024, the FMC published its Final Rule on Demurrage and Detention Billing Requirements. The rule, effective from 28 May 2024 for most provisions, sets out:

What information a D and D invoice must contain, including shipment identifiers, location, time period, applicable free time, and total charges.
Which parties can be billed and under what circumstances.
Timelines for issuing invoices and for customers to dispute them.^[3][4][5]

In September 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit partially vacated a key part of the rule that limited which parties could be billed, particularly around motor carriers.^[6][7][8] However, the documentation and timing requirements remain in effect. In other words, detailed invoices and clearer time frames are now standard, even if the question of “who gets billed” is still evolving.

Outside the U.S., there is no single global rule. Yet the direction is similar:

More scrutiny from regulators and shipper councils on “abusive” late fees.^[9]
Ongoing pressure to align D and D with the original “incentive principle” rather than treating it purely as a revenue source.^[2][10]

The practical consequence is simple. For 2026 negotiations, both carriers and shippers are expected to work from more structured data. Generic complaints are less persuasive. Concrete evidence traced to container events is more persuasive.

2. Where Visibility Data Changes Your D And D Risk

Most teams originally bought visibility platforms to answer “where is my container” faster. For demurrage and detention, the more important question is “what exactly happened between discharge and gate out, and when”.

A mature visibility stack gives you three advantages.

2.1 Avoiding Charges Before They Accrue

With reliable container timelines, you can:

Monitor when containers are discharged and when terminals report them as available for pickup.
Track how free time is consumed by day at specific ports and terminals.
Set alerts for containers that are approaching the end of free time so local teams can act before charges begin.^[9][10][11]

This is where predictive ETAs and port congestion signals are useful. If your visibility platform can flag that a vessel is likely to arrive late or that a terminal is congested, you can adjust trucking plans or customer promises instead of discovering the issue when an invoice arrives.

2.2 Disputing Invoices With A Clear Timeline

Under the FMC rule, D and D invoices must include specific data points such as container number, port or terminal, period when charges accrued, applicable free time, and the rate used.^[3][4][5] Many carriers and terminals now provide more detailed billing lines worldwide even where the rule does not apply directly.

Container visibility tools can mirror or exceed this level of detail. For each disputed invoice you should be able to reconstruct:

When the vessel berthed and the container was discharged.
When the terminal first reported the container as available for pickup.
When customs or other government holds were applied and released.
When the container actually left the terminal.

If your visibility data shows that a container was not genuinely available during part of the period being charged, or that holds outside your control consumed most of the free time, you have a factual basis to request waivers or credits. This aligns with the FMC’s stated view that D and D should incentivise freight fluidity rather than penalise shippers for circumstances they cannot control.^[2][10]

2.3 Analysing Patterns Before You Sit Down To Negotiate

The most powerful use of visibility data is not at the invoice level. It is at the lane and port level. With one or two years of standardised events, you can:

Identify which ports, terminals, and carriers generate the highest D and D spend.
Measure average and maximum days beyond free time on those locations.
Estimate how much of that delay is linked to external factors versus your own processes.

Several visibility and analytics providers now highlight this kind of D and D pattern analysis as a core use case.^{^{[9][10][11][12]}} The reason is straightforward. A lane level view lets you translate operational pain into specific tariff asks instead of broad “we need better terms” arguments.

3. A Four Step Playbook For 2026 D And D Negotiations

Once you have usable visibility data, you can build a simple, repeatable playbook for 2026 tariff discussions. The details will differ by company, but the steps are broadly similar.

Step 1: Build A Lane Level D And D Profile

Start with the last 12 to 24 months of shipments. For each key lane or port pair, calculate:

Number of containers moved.
Share of containers that incurred D and D.
Average and maximum days beyond free time.
Total D and D amount paid.

Sort lanes by total D and D spend, not by volume. Your top ten lanes by D and D cost are your high priority topics for 2026 negotiations. In many companies, this list is surprisingly short and concentrated.

Step 2: Classify Root Causes At A Practical Level

Perfect root cause coding is ideal but rare. For negotiation purposes, a basic classification is enough:

Carrier or terminal driven issues such as late vessel arrivals, limited gate capacity, or terminal closures.
External constraints such as customs holds, inspections, or government closures.
Internal process delays such as late document submission, slow truck booking, or missing payments.

You can derive this from a combination of visibility events, TMS data, and a manual review of a sample of shipments on each problem lane. The goal is not to assign legal fault. The goal is to understand where you have leverage and where you need internal improvement.

Step 3: Translate Patterns Into Specific Tariff Asks

Once you understand the patterns, you can move from generic discount requests to concrete proposals. Examples include:

On ports where containers are consistently released late in the free time window Ask for extra free days, or for free time to start from actual availability rather than vessel arrival on those locations. Back this with statistics from your visibility data.
On lanes with frequent customs holds outside your control Ask for clear rules that exclude government holds from free time calculations, or for an agreed process to suspend D and D accrual while specific types of holds are active.
On terminals where internal delays dominate Focus your negotiation on operational improvements and internal investments rather than tariffs. Visibility data can still help by quantifying what better planning or pre clearance could save.

Regulators and trade bodies have repeatedly emphasised that D and D should incentivise the efficient use of equipment and terminals.^[2][10] When you show that your requested terms support that principle and are based on actual lane performance, carriers are more likely to engage constructively.

Step 4: Reflect New Terms In Your Own Processes

After negotiations, many organisations fail to internalise what they agreed. To avoid this, make sure that:

Routing guides and carrier allocation rules reflect lanes with better free time or more favourable D and D structures.
TMS configurations and visibility alerts use the new free time and tariff rules so teams get correct signals.
Finance, customer service, and key account teams understand where D and D exposure has changed.

There is limited value in negotiating better D and D terms if day to day decisions, alerts, and customer updates still follow the old rules.

4. A Short Checklist For Your Next D And D Review

Before your next major tariff negotiation or RFP round, you can use this checklist as a quick internal audit.

Do we have at least 12 months of shipment data with standardised events for discharge, availability, and gate out on our main ports
Can we identify our top ten lanes by D and D spend, not just by volume
Do we have a basic split of delays into carrier or terminal driven, external constraints, and internal process issues
Have we translated those patterns into lane specific asks for extra free time, different start points, or clearer rules on holds
Are our visibility alerts and TMS settings aligned with current tariffs and free time structures

If you cannot answer “yes” to most of these questions, it is worth spending time on data and process before you sit down to renegotiate tariffs. Otherwise, you may leave money on the table simply because the conversation remains too general.

5. Where TRADLINX Fits In This Picture

TRADLINX Ocean Visibility focuses on turning carrier events and AIS positions into standardised container timelines that logistics and supply chain teams can trust. It is designed to help you:

Track containers by bill of lading, container, booking, or vessel across global carriers and ports.
See key milestones such as vessel departure, arrival, discharge, and availability in a single, consistent timeline.
Feed those events into your existing FMS, TMS, ERP, or data warehouse through APIs and embeddable views.
Model how different visibility pricing structures behave on your real shipment profile, especially when many containers move under a single bill of lading.

In a separate set of analyses, TRADLINX has shown how per container pricing for visibility can become disproportionately expensive when you regularly ship many containers on a single bill of lading, compared with a bill of lading based model that stays stable as container count grows.^{^[12][13]} The same logic applies when you benchmark D and D tariffs or negotiate free time structures. Real patterns at the shipment and lane level often matter more than headline prices.

If you are preparing for 2026 tariff negotiations and want to understand how visibility data could support your D and D strategy, one practical next step is to take a sample of recent shipments and build the lane level profile described in this article. TRADLINX can support that analysis by providing standardised event timelines and cost comparison views that help you see where the real leverage lies.

References

Federal Maritime Commission, Detention and Demurrage Statistics (accessed November 2025).
Reed Smith, New FMC rule on demurrage and detention under OSRA 2022, March 2024.
Federal Register, Demurrage and Detention Billing Requirements, 26 February 2024.
HFW, FMC’s new demurrage and detention regulations become effective May 2024, April 2024.
International Trade Today, FMC finalizes new demurrage, detention billing requirements, February 2024.
Thompson Hine, Court sets aside part of FMC’s demurrage and detention billing rule, September 2025.
Husch Blackwell, Appeals court decision reshapes detention and demurrage billing landscape for truckers, September 2025.
Agriculture Dive, US takes action on late fees in ocean shipping, February 2024.
Portcast, How to avoid demurrage and detention charges, August 2025.
Descartes MacroPoint, Demurrage and detention in ocean freight: reduce charges with visibility, October 2023.
CargoLogik, Stop the clock: how real time visibility saves you from D and D nightmares, May 2025.
TRADLINX Blog, The most complete guide to ocean freight tracking software in 2025, 2025.
TRADLINX Blog, Project44 vs TRADLINX: visibility cost breakdown, 2025.

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