Most of the truck drivers complain about being detained by the shipper or receiver, without any prior notice. The worst part of this detaining is sometimes it takes days! Truck detention law was regulated to protect the rights of truck drivers and prevent delays in the schedule. It includes a fine as compensation for the time lost by the driver.
However, it will be worth noting that this condition should be included in the agreement that was signed between the parties. Unfortunately, you will not be able to benefit from this regulation in case it was not stated in any part of the agreement.
What Does Truck Detention Mean?
Truck detention time law 2021 refers to the time that drivers wait for loading or unloading the goods or products they carry. It should be noted that the legal time allocated for loading or unloading is determined as two hours. This means that a driver should legally wait for at least two hours for the completion of the loading or unloading operation.
In case of any violation of this pre-determined period, the truck driver can use his or her rights that are secured with the truck detention law.
How Much Is Truck Detention Payment?
There is no fixed fee determined by the truck detention law. However, the fees that must be paid to the truck driver vary between $25 and $100. This fee is charged per hour that passes the pre-determined period, which is 2 hours.
How to Avoid Truck Detention Time Violation?
There are some tips and tricks you can follow to avoid truck detention law violations. Some of these can help you to minimize the loss while others can help you to totally prevent it. Here are some suggestions that you may want to implement.
Staggered appointment times can be an ideal option that you can implement in your operations. In this way, you will have better time-management skills in your operations. In addition to this, you can make sure that your products are ready for transportation before scheduling any operation.
It is always a good idea to make all your products ready before two hours from the actual operation time. If you often violate this law, then there is something wrong with your operations. You may want to consider rescheduling the shifts of your workers or hire new employees.
Without a doubt, rescheduling the shifts of your employees is one of the most logical decisions for smooth loading or unloading operations. If your warehouse is located in a dock, you can also benefit from drop and hook programs. Such programs allow truck drivers to drop their load in pre-determined areas so that you can pick them up later on.
Conclusion
The best way to avoid truck detention law violation is to ensure smooth and well-planned loading or unloading operations. In this respect, time management is one of the most crucial skills you need to have. You can organize the shifts according to your loading or unloading operations.
Hiring new employees or creating a new position for the time management of your operations can easily solve this problem for you.
