About
The Commission’s current focus on issues related to detention and demurrage dates back to 2014 when the Commission hosted multiple forums on maritime congestion. The feedback received from these forums was integrated into the 2015 FMC report, “Rules, Rates, and Practices Relating to Detention, Demurrage, and Free Time for Containerized Imports and Exports Moving Through Selected United States Ports [PDF, 367 KB] .”
In 2018, Commissioner Rebecca Dye was named the investigative officer for Fact Finding 28, which focused on the impact of detention and demurrage on supply chain efficiency. Commissioner Dye issued multiple recommendations from this fact-finding, including a proposed interpretive rule on detention and demurrage under the Shipping Act. The NPRM for the interpretive rule received over 100 comments from the public and the final rule was issued in May 2020.
The pandemic brought additional challenges to the supply chain and, in response, the Commission initiated Fact Finding 29, again with Commissioner Rebecca Dye as investigative officer. While this fact finding centered on engagement with supply chain stakeholders to identify solutions to the pandemic’s disruption of the supply chain system, maritime congestion resulted in renewed attention on detention and demurrage.
As part of the fact finding, Commissioner Dye issued an information demand on detention and demurrage practices among carriers and the largest marine terminal operators. The Fact Finding 29 recommendations included the proposed issuance of a rulemaking concerning information on detention and demurrage billings. An Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was issued by the Commission in February 2022.
Detention and Demurrage Data
The FMC collects quarterly data from these nine ocean carriers: CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, Hapag-Lloyd, HMM Co., Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Company, ONE, and Yang Ming.
These data are provided to the FMC, summarized, and then made available to the public for a general understanding of the scope of detention and demurrage billed by and paid to carriers. Detention is charged for extended use of intermodal equipment and demurrage accrues when a container exceeds free time on a marine terminal.
The chart below indexes the aggregate data provided to the FMC by the nine ocean carriers and provides a way to track and compare trends in detention and demurrage billed, collected, and waived using Quarter 2 – 2020 as the base period.
The total amount of D&D billed increased roughly nine-fold and detention and demurrage collected increased roughly ten-fold between Quarter 2 – 2020 and Quarter 1 – 2022.
All indices decreased substantially from their 2022 peak through Quarter 1 – 2025. Both the amount of D&D collected and billed were 85 percent higher during their peak in Quarter 4 – 2024 than in Quarter 2 – 2020.
Both Quarter 3 – 2024 & Quarter 4 – 2024 have seen slight sequential increases in D&D collected and billed compared to Q1 2024 & Q2 2024.
Quarter 1 – 2025 saw declines in billings and collection, 24% and 19% respectively quarter-to-quarter, with D&D waived up-ticking slightly by 7%.
In dollar terms, the nine carriers have collected roughly $15.4 billion in D&D charges between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2025.
The FMC continues to collect these data from the nine ocean carriers on a quarterly basis and will update the chart and numbers on this website accordingly.