Driver Detention Checklist: What to Record at Every Stop

Detention claims aren't won at the invoice stage — they're won or lost at the dock, in the two minutes it takes to capture (or skip) the timestamps that prove the timeline. By the time a broker disputes your times, the evidence either exists or it doesn't.

This is a field checklist you can run at every stop without thinking: what to record before you arrive, at check-in, while you wait, at release, and on the way out of the gate. It's built for the worst case — a shipper whose records disagree with yours — so the routine case becomes automatic money.

Before the stop: know what you're playing for

The checklist starts before the truck does, because the terms on the rate confirmation decide what evidence matters. Thirty seconds of reading tells you whether the clock starts at check-in or appointment time, who has to be notified and when, and what increment the money is counted in.

Free time per stop, and whether it runs from your check-in or from the appointment time.
Detention rate and billing increment (exact, 15/30-minute blocks, whole hours).
Notice requirement: who must be told that detention is starting, through what channel, by when.
Claim deadline after delivery.
Appointment time and confirmation number — arriving late voids detention under many agreements, so your on-time proof matters as much as your wait proof.

Tip Save the rate con to your phone before you roll. When you need to quote the detention clause from a dock at 9 p.m., 'it's in my email somewhere' is a bad filing system.

At check-in: create the arrival record

The arrival timestamp is the single most disputed number in detention claims. Your job at check-in is to create at least two independent, dated records of it — one you control, one the facility can't disown.

Message the broker or dispatch the moment you check in: 'Checked in at [facility], 07:55, appt 08:00.' A sent message is a dated record visible to a third party.
Sign the gate log or check-in sheet if one exists, and note the name of the guard or clerk who checked you in.
Photograph anything with a facility-generated time on it: gate ticket, kiosk screen, sign-in sheet, lumper receipt.
Note your door or lot assignment and the time you were told to expect — 'they said about an hour' is useful context later.
If you're early, note that too; some agreements start free time at the appointment, not your arrival.

While you wait: run the clock, give the notice

Free time expiring is the moment most claims are quietly lost, because many rate confirmations require notice to the broker at or before that point — and a driver watching a dock door is not usually watching a countdown.

Set a phone alarm for 15 minutes before free time expires, the moment you check in.
When it fires, message the broker in writing: 'Free time expires at 10:00; still not loaded/unloaded. Detention will apply per rate con from 10:00.' This satisfies typical notice clauses and starts the paper trail.
Log anything that explains the delay: door changes, staff breaks, 'the system is down,' trailers jumped ahead of you. Reasons don't change the math, but they defuse the 'driver caused the delay' counterargument.
Keep periodic timestamps for long waits — a message or note every hour keeps the timeline continuous and shows you were present and available the whole time.

Tip Everything in writing, nothing by phone alone. If you do call the broker, follow it immediately with a message summarizing the call — 'Per our call at 10:20, detention confirmed from 10:00' — so the agreement exists somewhere a claims processor can see it.

At release and after: close the timeline

The out time bounds your claim, and the minutes right after release are when the last pieces of evidence are easiest to get — and forgotten fastest.

Ask for in and out times written on the BOL and signed. If the facility refuses, note who refused and when.
Message the broker your out time immediately: 'Released and rolling, 13:10. Total detention 3 hrs 10 min per rate con.'
Photograph the signed BOL before it leaves your hands.
Same day, run the math per the agreement's increment and file the claim — or at minimum, drop every photo and screenshot into a folder named for the load number.
Log the stop in your records: facility, date, total wait, claimed or unclaimed. Patterns across months tell you which facilities to price up or avoid.

Your ELD data quietly backs all of this — it shows when the truck stopped and started moving. Treat it as corroboration for a disputed timeline, not as a substitute for BOL times and contemporaneous messages, since most brokers process claims from the paper trail.

Printable: detention field checklist (every stop)

Rate con read: free time, rate, increment, notice rule, claim deadline
Appointment time + confirmation saved to phone
Check-in message sent to broker/dispatch with timestamp
Gate log / sign-in sheet signed; checker's name noted
Photo: gate ticket, kiosk screen, or sign-in sheet
Alarm set for 15 min before free time expires
Written detention notice sent at free-time expiry
Delay reasons + hourly timestamps logged during long waits
In/out times written and signed on BOL (or refusal noted)
Departure message sent with out time
Photo of signed BOL
Claim filed same day; stop logged as claimed/unclaimed

Print this page or save it to your phone — the checklist works on paper.

Common questions

Do I really need all of this for every stop?

The first four items take under two minutes and cover most claims. The full list matters at facilities with a history of long waits or disputed times. Once it's habit, the marginal effort is near zero — and the one stop where you need it pays for a year of the habit.

What counts as proof if there's no gate log or sign-in sheet?

Your timestamped message to the broker at check-in becomes the anchor, backed by geotagged photos at the facility and your ELD showing the truck stationary there. Multiple independent timestamps from the same window are hard to dismiss even without facility paperwork.

The facility won't write times on the BOL. Does that kill the claim?

No, but document the refusal: note who refused, message the broker both times immediately, and lean on your photos, messages, and ELD data. A contemporaneous multi-source trail regularly carries claims that have no BOL times at all.

Should I log stops even when I'm not delayed?

Yes, at least minimally — a habit only works if it runs every time, and a record of normal stops makes your delayed ones more credible. It also builds the facility-by-facility dwell history that's genuinely useful when pricing repeat lanes.