How to Stop Demurrage and Detention Fees Before They Start

Yesterday’s Approach to Visibility Leaves You With a Blind Spot

Traditional visibility tools rely heavily on updates from carriers, which may not reflect a container’s most current status. When data is available, it’s often siloed, delayed, or incomplete, leaving forwarders scrambling to react after a fee has already been assessed.

Even systems that promise “track and trace” functionality tend to fall short, offering limited milestones or failing to trigger the right alert at the right time.

What forwarders need instead is a way to spot issues before they escalate.

The Power of Exception Management

Exception management is about being proactive, not reactive. It’s the difference between discovering a container has exceeded free time… and preventing that from happening in the first place.

Strong exception management requires:

• Clear visibility into shipment status
• Early warnings for potential delays or missed deadlines
• Actionable alerts that go to the right person at the right time

When done right, it gives forwarders the ability to intervene while there’s still time to make a difference: rerouting a container, coordinating with the warehouse, or nudging a consignee to pick up the cargo before the fee kicks in.

How Container Tracking Changes the Game

The Container Tracking extension for Magaya Supply Chain gives forwarders the edge they need.

Unlike traditional systems that pull only from carrier updates, Container Tracking pulls data directly from terminals and rail sources across North America and Mexico. That means the information you see in Container Tracking can be even more up-to-date than what the carrier provides.

That’s a game-changer. It gives forwarders more accurate, timely status updates so they can act with confidence, and sooner than they otherwise would.

With Container Tracking, forwarders can:

• Monitor live statuses across 200+ carriers and terminals
• Set up exception alerts tailored to free time thresholds or delivery milestones
• Get an earlier warning when containers are at risk of incurring fees

The result is more control, fewer surprises, and a better ability to protect margin.

Stop Chasing, Start Controlling

Forwarders often spend hours chasing updates from terminals, checking multiple carrier portals, or waiting on email updates.

Container Tracking centralizes that data in one platform, and pushes alerts automatically when attention is needed. That saves time, but more importantly, it shifts your team from reacting to issues to controlling outcomes.

Instead of saying, “we didn’t know,” you can confidently say, “we fixed it before it became a problem.”

Small Margins, Big Impact

As D&D fees rise and free time shrinks, the financial impact of even minor delays adds up quickly.

• One extra day of demurrage = $150 to $300+
• Late container return = $200+ per container per day

Even with relatively low volume, avoiding just a handful of incidents per month could mean thousands in monthly savings, and tens of thousands over the course of a year.

For forwarders with larger volumes, the upside is even greater. And the benefits of strong exception management extend beyond cost savings.

• It helps you maintain better relationships with shippers and consignees
• It creates internal efficiency and reduces stress on operations teams
• It improves planning accuracy and helps avoid cascading delays

Ultimately, better visibility leads to better decisions, and that’s good for your bottom line and customer satisfaction.

Want to Dig Deeper?

If demurrage and detention fees are eating into your margins, it’s time to rethink your approach to visibility and exception management. Container Tracking isn’t just about seeing where a container is, it’s about giving you the data you need to act early, avoid fees, and operate with more control.

Want to learn more? Download the updated 2025 Demurrage & Detention Guide for the latest cost benchmarks, regulation updates, and visibility strategies to help you stay ahead.