Since May 2024, federal rules set a strict standard for every ocean detention & demurrage invoice - and an invoice that fails it may not have to be paid (46 CFR Part 541). {{BRAND}} is a pre-payment firewall: your invoices are scanned at issuance, defective ones are intercepted before you pay them, and we pursue the dispute as your agent.
Scanning is free. Filing is free. We keep 20% of what you don't have to pay. No win, no fee.
Scan my invoices - free How it worksFree scan · fee only if money comes back · refunds go to you, not us.
| Invoice D-2214 | Detention, container CONT-4411: billed Jun 9–14, 6 days @ $315/day | $1,890.00 |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice fields | “Free time: 5 days, Jun 8–12” (46 CFR 541.6(b)(3)–(b)(5): allowed days, start, and end of free time, stated on the invoice itself) | |
| Calendar | Jun 9, 10, 11, 12 fall on or before the invoice’s own stated free-time end | |
| Not payable | 4 days × $315/day ← billed inside free time | $1,260.00 |
Illustration — synthetic data.
Nine of the largest ocean carriers collected approximately $15.4 billion in detention & demurrage charges between Q2 2020 and Q1 2025.
Source: FMC Detention & Demurrage data page.
In January 2026 the Commission assessed $22.67 million in civil penalties against a major ocean carrier for Shipping Act billing violations. Customers had disputed only 925 of 2,629 overcharged bills - the majority initially went unchallenged, and refunds went to those who pushed back.
Source: FMC, January 2026 decision.
Between 2020 and 2022, nine of the largest ocean carriers billed roughly $2.0 billion in detention & demurrage that went uncollected - the gap between charges billed and charges collected (as reported in the FMC final rule preamble, 2024).
Source: FMC final rule preamble, 89 FR 14330.
Since 2022, the FMC's own dispute channel has produced more than $5.8 million in waived or refunded charges (as reported in the FMC FY2026 budget justification).
Source: FMC FY2026 budget justification.
Most billed companies never check; checking is what we automate.
Every invoice must contain 20 required pieces of information; if any is missing, the regulation eliminates the obligation to pay that charge.
(46 CFR §§541.5-541.6)
Invoices must be issued within 30 calendar days of the last charge; late invoices don't have to be paid.
(§541.7)
You're entitled to at least 30 days to request a refund or waiver, and the biller must attempt to resolve it within 30 days. In a formal charge complaint, the burden falls on the carrier to show its invoice complied.
(§541.8)
These are documentary tests on the face of the invoice - not arguments about fairness.
One part of the 2024 rule (§541.4) was vacated by a federal court on September 23, 2025 and is now reserved. The invoice-content and 30-day issuance requirements were not affected: an invoice that fails them still eliminates the obligation to pay.
Our scan tests every element on every invoice, deterministically - with the statutory clock computed on each invoice the moment it arrives.
The standard groups the required content into identification (who is billed, by whom, for which container and shipment), timing (the dates and the 30-day issue clock), rates (the charge, the rate basis, and the applicable tariff), dispute access (how and by when to request a refund or waiver), and certifications (the attestations the biller must make). The scan checks each one (46 CFR §541.6).
Free scan, no obligation - invoices arrive at issuance via your carrier's billing settings, an auto-forward rule, or upload.
Which invoices fail the federal standard, on which elements, and the dollar exposure - with the statutory clock on each invoice.
Sign the engagement and letter of authority online, confirm per invoice that you'll withhold payment while we dispute, and we file as your agent - only for the invoices you approve.
Defective charges you never pay, plus refunds and waivers paid by the biller directly to you. Our success fee is invoiced afterward with the evidence attached. No win, no fee.
Already paid an invoice? A refund request may still be available under the rule's dispute channel - we review those case by case.
Scan my invoices - freePrefer email? Write to us.
Your first engagement is free on the first $5,000 recovered - 20% applies above that. Direct engagements only: broker-referred clients engage at the standard rate. No recovery, no fee.
Reefer cargo can't wait out a congested terminal - free time runs short and demurrage accrues fastest exactly when you can least afford delay.
Charges pile up quietly across many containers before anyone reviews them - and most billed companies never check.
Terminal congestion and shifting return windows create charges on dates you didn't control.
D&D invoices come from ocean carriers, marine terminals, and NVOCCs - including, sometimes, your own freight forwarder. All three are bound by the same content and timing standard when they bill you (46 CFR Part 541).
If a scan implicates your forwarder, nothing is filed without your explicit consent.
If you were referred by your customs broker or forwarder, they receive a referral share of our fee on your matters - never a markup to you. Broker-referred engagements engage at our standard rate.
What you sign, and how your data is used →
Nothing. Scanning is free, and so is filing. Scanning is free. Filing is free. We keep 20% of what you don't have to pay. No win, no fee.
Money you keep because a defective charge was intercepted before payment, plus charges waived, refunded, or credited after we file. The success fee applies only to that value.
Already paid an invoice? A refund request may still be available under the rule's dispute channel - we review those case by case.
The rule requires the biller to attempt to resolve a dispute within 30 days, and a formal FMC charge complaint remains available - where the burden falls on the carrier to show its invoice complied.
Success fee: 20% of amounts eliminated or recovered, invoiced after the outcome with the evidence attached. No win, no fee. Funds never pass through {{BRAND}}.
Yes. Authority is per-invoice and revocable; fee treatment of matters already in motion is set out in the engagement letter.
