Waiting time charges: how to bill for time spent waiting on site
Every operator knows the feeling: the truck's on site at 7am as booked, and it doesn't get loaded until 9:30. That's two and a half hours of truck, driver and fuel you're paying for, and the next job of the day is now running late too.
Waiting time (also called detention) is one of the biggest sources of lost revenue in transport, mostly because it's never written down, never proven, and never invoiced. Here's how to fix that.
Why waiting time matters
- It's real cost. The truck, the driver's wages and the finance payment don't stop while you wait.
- It knocks over the rest of the day. One late load can mean missed delivery windows for other customers.
- It's a safety issue, not just a money issue. Long, unplanned waits eat into drivers' work and rest hours and push them towards fatigue limits. Under the Heavy Vehicle National Law, the people who control loading and unloading, including consignees and loading managers, are part of the chain of responsibility, and unreasonable delays are one of the risks they're expected to manage.
Step 1: agree the terms before the first job
Put waiting time in your rate agreement with each customer. Cover:
- Free time. How long the truck can wait at pickup or delivery before charges start (often 30–60 minutes, depending on the work).
- The rate. Usually your normal hourly rate for that vehicle, or a set waiting rate.
- Increments. Charged per 15 minutes, per 30 minutes, or per hour.
- When the clock starts. From the booked time, or from arrival if the truck is late.
- Whether fuel levy applies to waiting time. Agree it either way.
If it's not written down, you'll lose the argument every time.
Step 2: capture the evidence automatically
Customers don't dispute waiting time because they think you're lying. They dispute it because nobody can prove it. The fix is objective timestamps:
- Arrival and departure times at each stop, recorded by the driver or by GPS geofence
- The booked time, so you can show the truck was on time
- POD signature times for when unloading actually finished
- A short note of the reason, e.g. "Crane unavailable until 9:15"
With GPS-backed arrive and depart times on every stop, a waiting time charge stops being "the driver says" and becomes a record.
Step 3: tell the customer while it's happening
Don't save the surprise for the invoice. A quick message ("Truck's been on site since 7:00, still not loaded; waiting time applies from 7:30 per our agreement") does two things: it often gets the truck loaded faster, and it removes the shock when the charge appears.
Step 4: put it on the invoice, clearly
Show waiting time as its own line, with the times:
Waiting time, Dandenong South: on site 07:00, loaded 09:30, 2.5 h less 0.5 h free = 2.0 h @ $165.00
Specific, timestamped and tied to the agreement. That's hard to argue with.
Step 5: review it
Waiting time data tells you a lot. If one site keeps you waiting every week, that's a conversation to have: better booking windows, an adjusted rate, or a pricing decision.
How TrakkHQ handles waiting time
The TrakkHQ ops board shows a waiting timer on each job that turns amber, then red, the longer the truck sits on site, so the office sees delays as they happen. Drivers record arrive and depart times at every stop in the driver app, so every waiting time charge is backed by timestamps on the job record.
FAQ
What's a fair free-time allowance?
It depends on the work. A simple pallet drop is different from a crane lift on a building site. Many operators allow 30–60 minutes; the key is that it's agreed upfront.
Can I charge waiting time if it's not in the contract?
You can ask, but it's much harder to enforce. Add it to your rate agreements now, so it applies from the next job.
What if my truck arrived late?
Then the clock should start from your arrival, or from the booked time plus a grace period, whichever your agreement says. Fairness both ways makes the charge stick.
Sources
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Waiting time terms should be agreed in writing with each customer.