Detention
A fee charged when a container is held outside the terminal beyond the allotted free time before return to the carrier.
Port & carrier feesTL;DR: This term is one of 37 definitions in the freight glossary, so the signal is the number it changes — not the acronym. It sits in the Port & carrier fees category and links to 2 related terms for adjacent freight math. Use the example below to turn the definition into a before/after calculation before you quote or clear cargo.
What it means
Detention is the carrier’s charge for keeping a container too long after it has been picked up from the terminal, before it is returned empty. Whereas demurrage covers time inside the port, detention covers time outside it — at your warehouse or at the consignee’s yard. Carriers allow a set number of free days (often 5 to 10) to unload and return the empty box; beyond that, a daily detention fee applies. On the China-to-GCC corridor, detention is commonly triggered by slow unloading, weekend or holiday delays, or consignees who treat the container as temporary storage. Because demurrage and detention can both run at once, a shipment that clears customs but sits at the warehouse can still accumulate carrier charges.
Who pays / who bears risk
Who pays
Consignee (or their forwarder) pays for keeping the container past free time outside the port.
Who bears risk
Consignee bears the charge for late empty return.
Common misunderstanding
Detention is separate from demurrage; a shipment can incur both at once.
Why it matters
Detention is the outside-the-port sibling of demurrage — slow unloading at your own warehouse is enough to trigger it, so plan empty-container return around free days.
Example
A Dammam consignee keeps a 40ft container at their yard for 18 days as overflow storage, exceeding the 10 free days and accruing 8 days of carrier detention.