Trucking Detention Software: 6 Options Compared for 2027

Key Takeaways

Choose trucking detention software by the job it has to do: time the wait, bill the customer, pay the driver, or screen shippers before you accept a load. The tools below split along those jobs, and the right pick depends on which job is costing you money today.

• Pick by job: Toro TMS, Trimble TMW.Suite, and Ditat sit inside a transportation management system (TMS) that also runs dispatch and settlements. EKA DockTime and TrackFlo focus on the detention record and recovery. Tenstreet True Load Time helps you judge a shipper before you accept the load.

• Most prices are quote-based: Only TrackFlo publishes a per-load range and a monthly range in this set, so the rest of the decision turns on scope and evidence.

• Collection is the weak point: Fewer than half of the fleets that charge for detention get paid, according to Transport Topics, so the timestamp record matters as much as the charge.

• Driver pay is a separate question: Only EKA DockTime and Toro describe driver detention pay on their pages. Ask every vendor how driver pay is triggered and what record it reads from.

• Scope can rule a tool out: Trimble's TMW.Suite is described as not ideally suited for small to mid-sized carriers.

TL;DR: If your dispatch already runs in a TMS, start with that system's detention features and test them on your own stops. If you broker freight and need to audit past loads, TrackFlo is the only option here with published ranges. If you need a detention record that produces an invoice, shortlist EKA DockTime and ask about its data sources.

What trucking detention software does

Detention is time a driver spends waiting at a shipper or receiver after the free time in the contract has run out. Detention software records arrival and departure, measures the wait against that free-time window, and produces the charge and, in some setups, the driver's pay line.

The problem is common. Detention share: 39.3% of stops in 2023 according to ATRI (2024). Recovery is weaker than that frequency suggests. Payment rate: under 50% of charging fleets get paid according to Transport Topics (2026), which quotes Trimble's product management lead on the point.

This is where a proposed workflow earns its place. A proposed workflow from US Tech Automations would start with a trigger: an arrival event for a stop on an active load, read from an ELD or telematics export. The action compares that arrival with the free-time window stored on the order, and at the threshold it alerts the dispatcher and sends the customer a notice. The output is a detention record on the load showing arrival, free-time expiry, and departure, with a flag when departure is missing. The prerequisites are a scheduled export or API feed of stop-level timestamps, and the free-time terms for each customer entered before go-live. The human review point is a dispatcher confirming any record flagged for a missing departure before it moves forward. If the customer notice goes by SMS through Twilio, the audit log should store the message's date_sent and error_code fields, which Twilio's Message resource lists, so a failed notice is visible before the free-time window closes. Carriers that already log stops through an ELD can check that data in our ELD software guide before choosing a detention tool.

How we evaluated these tools

We weighted six criteria for a small carrier or broker buying detention software. Timing carries the most weight because a charge that cannot be defended with timestamps is hard to collect, and the payment gap above shows collection is already the weak point. The weights are our analysis, not vendor data. Pricing transparency is weighted lowest because a published range is useful but says little about whether a tool captures the clock correctly.

A cell marked "Not verified" below means the pages reviewed did not confirm the feature, so we did not assume it.

Side-by-side feature matrix

"Stated" means the vendor's page or a named independent page describes the feature. The matrix is our reading of those pages.

Six vendors, profiled

Each profile covers best fit, limitations, the implementation facts we could confirm, and price status. Links point to the public page behind each claim.

Toro TMS

Best fit: Carriers that want detention, dispatch, billing, and settlements in one system. Toro's detention guide says its platform captures stop arrival, departure, and on-site time automatically, flags drivers nearing free time, and applies detention fees to orders once free time runs out. The same guide says driver pay can be calculated from completed load data (Toro's detention guide). That guide is written by Toro and ranks Toro first, so treat it as the vendor's view.

Limitations: The guide does not name a detention price or cite outside study data. Choosing Toro usually means consolidating dispatch and billing into one system, which is a larger change than adding a detention tool to what you already run.

Implementation: Toro's pricing page says the plan is month-to-month and that support carries no extra charge. No setup timeline appears on the pages reviewed.

Price status: Quote-based for detention. The pricing page shows no dollar figure.

Trimble TMW.Suite

Best fit: Large fleets already running TMW.Suite that want detention events tied to dispatch, billing, and settlements. The product covers the shipment lifecycle from order booking through billing and settlements.

Limitations: The FreightWaves Ratings review says the system is "not ideally suited for small to mid-sized trucking companies." It also notes that custom development, integration, and support can carry extra charges, according to FreightWaves Ratings.

Price status: Quote-based. The same review says the exact cost is not publicly listed and that tiered plans depend on modules, licensed users, and integrations (FreightWaves Ratings).

Ditat

Best fit: Carriers and asset-based brokers that want detention alerts and invoicing inside a TMS that also handles dispatch and settlements. In a sponsored FreightWaves article, Ditat's Detention Dashboard compares drivers' in and out times, mostly from self-reported check calls, against appointments. The dashboard blocks invoicing until each detention case is resolved, and a Detention Plan sends alerts when detention is approaching and when charges are accruing (sponsored FreightWaves article).

Evidence: The only result figure comes from that same sponsored piece, which reports one carrier capturing 22% more detention accessorial revenue after adoption, according to FreightWaves (2023).

Limitations: The detention evidence comes from one sponsored article and one carrier's reported result, not an independent test. Ditat sells a full TMS, so buying it for detention alone is a bigger change. Ditat's site describes auto-detention built into billing workflows, but the pages reviewed publish no prices.

Price status: Quote-based.

TrackFlo

Best fit: Freight brokerages that want to audit past loads for detention they could recover, then share recovered amounts with the carriers who did the waiting. TrackFlo's Detention Collection Dashboard reviews loads where a stop passed the detention threshold, keeps loads where the driver arrived on time, and multiplies billable time by a configured rate. The default threshold is 2 hours, and changing it re-audits every load, according to TrackFlo (undated page, checked 2026). The same page says every feature is on every plan with no seat fees.

Limitations: The product is built for brokers, so carrier-side invoicing and driver pay are not described. A "long stops" view flags very long dwell times, usually caused by missed departure pings, so timestamp data needs cleaning before an audit is trustworthy.

Implementation: The product page does not list required inputs. Because the audit multiplies billable time from stop arrival and departure, stop-level timing is a prerequisite in our reading. The pricing page says implementation, configuration, and training are included (TrackFlo pricing).

Price status: Published. See the pricing section below.

EKA DockTime

Best fit: Carriers and third-party logistics firms that want detention timed from telematics timestamps rather than driver calls, then sent to the customer as an invoice with supporting documents. EKA's page says DockTime records arrival and departure from telematics-backed timestamps, alerts when free time runs out, assembles the detention invoice with those timestamps attached, and triggers driver detention pay from the same event record (EKA DockTime). It also reports detention by shipper, facility, lane, and driver.

Limitations: The page names telematics-backed timestamps only. It does not say whether ELD or geofence data is used, so ask before you buy.

Implementation: EKA says the product goes live in 2 to 8 weeks, according to EKA DockTime.

Price status: Quote-based. The page publishes no price.

Tenstreet True Load Time

Best fit: Carriers that want wait-time history before they accept a load, to plan routes and driver breaks or to screen shippers. It is not a billing tool. The page describes a database of shipper wait times and anonymous driver reviews, searchable by company or address and filterable by radius and rating. It also has an inquiry tool that estimates the likelihood of idling at a drop-off (Tenstreet).

Limitations: The page does not describe invoicing, detention billing, or driver pay. The data depends on contributed reviews from truckers and brokers. Tenstreet's claims that the product can reduce detention pay are vendor claims.

Price status: Quote-based. The page lists no plan tiers, and adding reviews is free with a valid DOT number, according to Tenstreet.

Pricing status and cost of waiting

Pricing checked November 13, 2026. Only TrackFlo publishes a range in this set, and the table below shows where each vendor stands.

Per-load cost: $0.25 to $0.80 according to TrackFlo (undated page, checked 2026). The same page gives a typical monthly platform cost of $999 to $9,500, and says accounts above 10,000 loads a month are priced separately.

Worked example (hypothetical): Take a carrier with 300 stops in a month. ATRI's 2023 share of 39.3% of stops with detention, according to ATRI (2024), gives about 118 detained stops. Assume 1.5 billable hours past free time per detained stop, which is 177 hours, and an assumed $60 an hour, which is a gross value of $10,620. If the carrier collects 40%, which sits below the under-50% payment rate cited above, it collects $4,248 and leaves $6,372 uncollected. Each customer notice sent on those stops should leave an audit entry with date_sent and error_code, as described in the workflow above.

The billing step is where a proposed US Tech Automations design would fit. The trigger would be a confirmed departure event, not an arrival alone. The action would compute billable time as departure minus the free-time expiry, multiply it by the contracted rate from a per-customer rate table, and draft a customer accessorial line in the accounting or TMS system. The output is a draft line, not a sent invoice. The prerequisites are API or scheduled-export access to the TMS or accounting system, a written rate table for each customer, and a driver pay rule the settlement step can read. The review points are a billing manager approving each draft line before it leaves, and someone checking each driver settlement line against policy before the pay run. This is a configurable design, and no deployment or measured result is implied.

Zapier, Make, or n8n: the build-it-yourself option

Many small operators will try to stitch this together in Zapier, Make, or n8n, or with a spreadsheet and a few automations. That is a fair option. When configured, these tools can keep run histories, retry failed steps, branch on errors, and keep an audit trail. What the buyer still owns is the design: stopping a retried event from creating a duplicate invoice line (idempotency), escalating a missing departure to a person, controlling who can see driver pay, and maintaining the workflow when a TMS field name changes. A proposed US Tech Automations design could configure the same trigger-action-output chain described above, with a documented approval gate before any customer invoice and a fixed escalation path for records missing a departure. It would still depend on the same API or export access, and a person would still review every charge. Build in-house if someone on your team will own that maintenance. Buy a packaged tool if no one will.

Who this is for

Best for: A small carrier or broker owner or operations lead who already records stop timestamps or check calls, has detention terms in at least some customer contracts, and wants a documented charge before the free-time window closes.

Red flags: You have no arrival or departure data at all, none of your customer contracts state free time, or nobody will review a charge before it goes out.

Who should choose which vendor

• Toro TMS: Choose it if you want detention, dispatch, billing, and settlements in one system and can take on a TMS change.

• Trimble TMW.Suite: Choose it if you already run it at scale and detention is one module among many. Skip it if your fleet is small or mid-sized, per the review cited above.

• Ditat: Choose it if you want a TMS with a detention dashboard and alerts, and you can weigh its evidence knowing one source is sponsored.

• TrackFlo: Choose it if you broker freight, want to audit past loads, and can supply stop-level timing.

• EKA DockTime: Choose it if you want telematics-timed detention turned into customer invoices, and you can plan around its published go-live window.

• Tenstreet True Load Time: Choose it if your question is which shippers to avoid before dispatch, not how to bill a wait you already had.

When NOT to use US Tech Automations: A simpler option wins in three cases. If you bill only a handful of detention events a month, a dispatcher checklist and the detention features of a TMS you already own are cheaper to run than a workflow you must maintain. If your TMS already runs detention end to end, as the Toro and Ditat profiles describe, a workflow layer repeats work the system does. If your problem is picking shippers before you accept a load, Tenstreet True Load Time answers that question directly, and a billing workflow does not.

Decision checklist before you request quotes

• Do we record arrival and departure for every stop, from ELD, telematics, or check calls?

• Are free-time terms written into each customer contract?

• Who approves a detention charge before it goes to the customer?

• Does driver pay follow from the same record, and is that rule written in our pay policy?

• Can the vendor put its setup timeline and data requirements in writing?

• Is the price a published range or a quote, and what is the minimum term?

• What happens to a record when the departure event is missing?

Glossary

• Free time: The window in the contract before detention starts.

• Dwell time: The total time a truck spends at a facility.

• Detention: Dwell time beyond free time that the customer has agreed to pay for.

• Accessorial: A fee billed on top of the base freight rate, such as detention.

• Settlement: The pay statement for drivers or owner-operators.

• Geofence: A virtual boundary around a facility used to time arrival and departure.

• ELD: An electronic logging device, and a common source of duty and location data.

Questions buyers ask

Is trucking detention software worth it for a small carrier?

It is worth it when you already time stops and have written free-time terms, because without both there is nothing to bill against. Start by checking whether your current system records departure times.

Can I bill detention without buying software?

Yes, with a spreadsheet and a documented check-call process, but you carry the record-keeping, the audit trail, and the error handling yourself. The build-it-yourself section above lays out those tradeoffs.

Do these tools pay drivers too?

Only some do. EKA DockTime's page describes driver detention pay triggered from the same event record as the customer invoice, and Toro's guide says driver pay can be calculated from completed load data. The other pages reviewed do not describe driver pay, so confirm it directly.

How long does setup take?

EKA states 2 to 8 weeks to go live on its DockTime product page. The other vendors' pages reviewed publish no setup timeline, so ask for one in writing.

Why do detention invoices go unpaid?

The reasons are not fully explained in the sources reviewed, but the payment gap cited earlier is the reason to document the clock when the wait happens, not weeks later. A timestamped record with the free-time expiry on it is easier to defend in a dispute.

Which option is cheapest?

Only TrackFlo publishes a range in this set, a per-load cost and a typical monthly platform cost. The others are quote-based, so request a written range before comparing totals.

Bottom line

Trucking detention software is a timing-and-documentation purchase first and a pricing decision second. If your dispatch already runs in a TMS, start with that system's detention features and test them on your own stops. If you broker freight, TrackFlo's published ranges make it the easiest option to scope. If you need an invoice-ready detention record, EKA DockTime is worth a quote request, and so is Ditat if you are open to moving dispatch into its TMS. Before you sign anything, ask each vendor for its data requirements, its driver pay rule, and its price in writing. To see how a configured design of this kind might look, see how US Tech Automations configures this.