What Is This Load Really Paying Per Hour? — Detention & Load Pay Calculator

Private by construction: every calculation happens on this page, on your device. Nothing you type is sent anywhere — there is no server holding your numbers, no account, and no sign-in.

The numbers pre-filled below are one example load — the same load used in our short video: 750 loaded miles at $2.10. Replace every figure with your own load. The detention terms (free time, hourly rate) are assumptions too — use the terms in your own rate confirmation.

The load

What the load pays, and every mile it takes — loaded and empty.

Load pay ($) The linehaul on the rate confirmation, before any detention.

Loaded miles

Deadhead (empty) miles To the pickup and after the drop — they burn fuel and hours too.

Your cost per mile ($) Don't know it? The cost-per-mile calculator figures it. 1.30 is its starter example.

The clock

Average driving speed (mph) Rolling average, stops included. 50 is a working assumption for highway freight.

Hours spent waiting (total) Shipper + receiver, door time to door time.

Detention terms

From your rate confirmation or carrier agreement. The defaults are common terms, not a promise that your load carries them.

Free time before detention starts (hours) Two free hours is a common term. Assumption — check your paperwork.

Detention rate ($ per billable hour) What detention pays per hour after the free time. Assumption — check your paperwork.

Detention actually paid ($) What actually showed up for the waiting. Zero is a common answer.

What the load really pays

1 · Your real pay per hour

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2 · Per hour if detention were paid in full

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3 · Detention: owed vs. paid

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Rate on all miles—

Total hours on this load—

Gross per hour (before costs)—

Keep the evidence

Detention is won or lost on records: arrival times, door times, what was promised against what was paid. The Pro Pack's rate-history log keeps offered-vs-taken rates; a simple load log — date, facility, in/out times, detention billed and paid — is the paper trail a detention claim stands on. Tracker & log: Know Your Mile — Monthly Cost Tracker & Rate History Log, $27 one time.

How this is calculated

Every formula, in plain English. The pre-filled numbers are an example — the formulas are the real content.

Total miles = loaded miles + deadhead miles Driving hours = total miles ÷ average speed Total hours = driving hours + waiting hours Running cost = your cost per mile × total miles Money kept = load pay + detention actually paid − running cost Real pay per hour = money kept ÷ total hours Rate on all miles = (load pay + detention paid) ÷ total miles Billable wait = waiting hours − free time, never below zero Detention owed = billable wait × detention rate Shortfall = detention owed − detention actually paid, never below zero Paid-in-full hour = (money kept + shortfall) ÷ total hours

Why hours, not miles: a load board quotes miles because miles are what the freight moves. Your life is spent in hours — driving them and waiting through them. This page prices the hours.
Detention owed is your paperwork's number, not this page's opinion: the free time and the hourly rate come from your rate confirmation or carrier agreement. If yours says no detention, the honest owed figure is $0 — set the rate to 0 and the page will show you what the waiting cost your hourly pay anyway.
What is not in these numbers: taxes, lumper fees, tolls beyond what your cost per mile already carries, and any accessorials besides detention. Add what a load really cost you to the cost-per-mile side.
Company drivers: your cost per mile is your employer's problem, but the clock math is yours — set cost per mile to 0 and the per-hour figures become gross pay per hour on the load.