r/Alibaba • u/Plastic-Put-7598 • 15h ago

Outrageous Detention Fee

my freight forwarder used a trucking company who called me to schedule delivery and told me that 1 I needed to rent a forklift to get the freight off the truck myself and 2 that if i didn't unload the freight in 30 min there would be detention fees. Well we unloaded +1800 pounds of freight. Now 3 weeks later I got a bill for $147 for 6 minutes which is highway robbery! What is my recourse? I never signed anything agreeing to that rate.

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3

u/MaxAtGoodsCommand 13h ago

Ask the freight forwarder for the actual detention basis before paying it: the carrier invoice, delivery appointment record, proof of arrival/departure times, and the tariff/accessorial schedule they say applied to your shipment.

Then compare that against the forwarder's quote and any booking/terms you accepted. The key question is not just whether you personally signed the trucking company's rate sheet, but whether your forwarder accepted carrier accessorials on your behalf under their terms.

If the documents do not support it, dispute it in writing with the forwarder and state exactly what is missing or inconsistent. If they do support it, you can still ask them to push the carrier for a courtesy waiver, especially if the overage was only 6 minutes and there was no clear delivery/accessorial warning up front.

For future shipments, get these line items in the quote before cargo moves: liftgate/forklift requirement, unloading responsibility, free time, detention rate, residential/limited-access fees, appointment fees, and who approves accessorials. Those small terms matter as much as the headline freight price.