Demurrage and detention billing software that audits the charge before you pay it
Demurrage and detention billing is the charging of fees for cargo or equipment held beyond agreed free time, with demurrage covering cargo inside a terminal and detention covering equipment outside it. Since the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, 46 CFR Part 541 sets who may be billed, what the invoice must contain and the timeframes for issuing and disputing a charge. Neurobird rebuilds free time from the actual event record and audits each line before it is paid.
Neurobird Demurrage Detention Billing in short
- Parse inbound demurrage and detention invoices into charge lines you can actually audit
- Rebuild free time from tariff, service contract and gate or vessel events rather than from a phone call
- Assemble a dispute pack inside the window, with the event evidence attached
- 46 CFR 541 The federal demurrage and detention billing requirements: who may be billed, what information an invoice must contain, and the process for requesting fee mitigation. eCFR, 46 CFR Part 541
- 2024 The billing requirements rule was published in the Federal Register on 26 February 2024 and most of it took effect on 28 May 2024, setting out the reasoning behind each required invoice element. Federal Register, demurrage and detention billing requirements
- Pricing runs 149 to 499 US dollars per month across 3 tiers. Early access is free.
What drayage carriers, NVOCCs and BCO logistics teams actually deal with
Why it stays broken
The invoice knows the total and nothing else. Free time depends on a tariff, a service contract and a chain of gate and vessel events, and those sit in 3 systems that were never joined. So a 200 line invoice gets spot checked, or paid.
At 150 dollars a day on 240 containers, a week of unchecked charges is real money.
The Commission sought comments on whether the Commission should require billing parties to issue demurrage or detention invoices within 60 days after the charges stopped accruing.
Neurobird Demurrage Detention Billing Revenue Recovery Platform
Rebuild the clock from the events, not from the invoice. Once free time is computed from what actually happened, the audit is arithmetic instead of argument.
- 1Parse inbound demurrage and detention invoices into charge lines you can actually audit
- 2Rebuild free time from tariff, service contract and gate or vessel events rather than from a phone call
- 3Assemble a dispute pack inside the window, with the event evidence attached
- 4Track aging, credits received and what is still owed on each container
What changes with Neurobird Demurrage Detention Billing?
The same work, read left to right: how it runs today, and how it runs once the record is in one place.
| Today | With Neurobird Demurrage Detention Billing |
|---|---|
| Demurrage and detention invoices arrive as PDFs with a container number and a total, and checking one takes longer than paying it | Parse inbound demurrage and detention invoices into charge lines you can actually audit |
| Free time depends on the tariff, the service contract and the actual gate and vessel events, and those three live in three different places | Rebuild free time from tariff, service contract and gate or vessel events rather than from a phone call |
| The dispute window is short and the evidence is scattered, so charges get paid that should never have been billed | Assemble a dispute pack inside the window, with the event evidence attached |
Who is this for?
Same charge, three different positions.
You get billed and you rebill
You are in the middle. You need the charge audited before it moves to your customer, or you own the argument twice.
You explain the charge to a shipper
You need the event record behind every day billed, in a format a customer will accept without a phone call.
You pay the bill
You have volume and no easy way to check it. You need the free time rebuilt from events so you can dispute with evidence, not with tone.
What actually governs these charges
Useful if you are disputing an invoice or writing a billing policy. Each source links out.
The federal demurrage and detention billing requirements: who may be billed, what information an invoice must contain, and the process for requesting fee mitigation.
eCFR, 46 CFR Part 541The billing requirements rule was published in the Federal Register on 26 February 2024 and most of it took effect on 28 May 2024, setting out the reasoning behind each required invoice element.
Federal Register, demurrage and detention billing requirementsThe Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, the statute that directed the regulator to write billing rules for these charges.
GovInfo, Public Law 117-146Companion rules on unreasonable conduct in ocean shipping, the other half of the framework a disputed charge is argued under.
eCFR, 46 CFR Part 542The Federal Maritime Commission publishes its rules, dockets and complaint procedures, which is where a charge dispute escalates when it is not resolved commercially.
Federal Maritime CommissionThe invoice audit, as your analyst would run it
A working preview. Tick a line to check it against free time.
| Line item | Amount | |
|---|---|---|
| Container MSKU4471280, 6 days demurrage | $1,840 | |
| Chassis detention, 3 days | $620 | |
| Free time expired 2026-03-14 | $3,275 | |
| Port closure, weather | $455 |
Click recover to add a missed line to the invoice.
How does Neurobird Demurrage Detention Billing work?
Take the invoice apart
Inbound PDFs and EDI become charge lines with container, charge type, dates and days billed, so you are auditing data rather than reading a scan.
Rebuild free time
Tariff terms and contract free time are held as rules and applied against the real gate, vessel and availability events on that container.
File inside the window
Where the charge does not stand, the dispute pack assembles with the event evidence attached and the 30 day clock tracked.
Demurrage detention billing software questions, answered
Key terms
- What is demurrage and detention billing?
- Demurrage and detention billing is the charging of fees for cargo or equipment held beyond agreed free time. Demurrage generally covers cargo sitting inside a terminal, detention covers equipment held outside it. The dispute is almost always about when the clock started and whether it should have run at all.
What rules apply to these invoices?
In the United States, 46 CFR Part 541 sets billing requirements for demurrage and detention under the Shipping Act, following the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022. It defines who may be billed, what an invoice must contain, and the timeframes for issuing and disputing a charge.
How long do we have to dispute a charge?
The federal billing rule sets specific windows for issuing an invoice and for requesting fee mitigation, generally measured in 30 day periods rather than open ended. The practical problem is not the window, it is assembling the evidence inside it.
Does this replace our TMS?
No. It reads the events your TMS and terminal feeds already produce, then audits the charge against free time. What you pay or dispute goes back out to your accounting system.
Why we are building this
These charges exist for a real reason: terminals and equipment pools need cargo to move. The problem is not the fee, it is that the invoice arrives with no way to check it inside the window you have to dispute it.
Federal rules now say what an invoice must contain and how a fee can be challenged. Most billing teams still audit by sampling, because rebuilding free time by hand takes longer than the charge is worth.
We would rather build this with the people who read these invoices every day. Tell us how yours arrive, and where we have got it wrong.
Where the requirement comes from
The statute and rules a disputed charge is argued under.
- 46 CFR Part 541, billing requirements What a demurrage or detention invoice must contain, who may be billed, and the fee mitigation process.
- Federal Register, billing requirements rule The 2024 rulemaking, including the reasoning behind each required invoice element.
- Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 Public Law 117-146, the statute that directed the billing rules.
- Federal Maritime Commission Rules, dockets and complaint procedures for charges that are not resolved commercially.
How much does Neurobird Demurrage Detention Billing cost?
Priced per month by container volume audited. Unlimited users and disputes on every tier.
- Invoice parsing
- Free time rules
- Charge audit
- Dispute pack export
- Email support
- Everything in Single lane
- Gate and vessel event ingest
- Aging and credit tracking
- Dispute window alerts
- Named contact
- Everything in Regional
- Multi carrier tariff library
- Accounting system sync
- Recovery reporting
- Onboarding included
Get free early access
If you handle these invoices, tell us what arrives, in what format, and how much of it you can actually check.
Straight answer on where this is: In development. Early access gets the working preview, a say in what ships first, and early access pricing. It does not get you a login today.
Prefer email? Write to office@neurobird.com and a person will reply. No autoresponder.