Named measures · rates and days billed
Per diem, chassis and demurrage per day: rates and days billed
What a day of per diem (detention) or extra chassis costs, how many days importers are billed, and how long trucked containers keep their chassis, from line-item forwarder invoices that state the days.
In Freight Benchmarks' invoice data, per diem (detention) billed by the day cost a median $172 per container per day, for a median 2 days, and chassis extra days a median $55 per day, for 3 days, on single-container US import shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026.
A trucked container kept its chassis a median 3 days, and 31.5% were billed 5 days or more. Demurrage is usually billed as a lump sum; where bills state the days, the middle half of daily rates ran $100 to $245.
Cite this figure
Freight Benchmarks (2026). Per diem (detention) per container per day, median, bills that state the days: $172. Single-container US import shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026; data version 2026-10-22. https://freightbenchmarks.com/benchmarks/per-day-rates/#fig-per-day-rates-per-diem-rate-median-usd (CC BY 4.0)
Cite this figure
Freight Benchmarks (2026). Per diem (detention) days billed per container, median: 2 days. Single-container US import shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026; data version 2026-10-22. https://freightbenchmarks.com/benchmarks/per-day-rates/#fig-per-day-rates-per-diem-days-median-days (CC BY 4.0)
Cite this figure
Freight Benchmarks (2026). Chassis extra day rate per day, median: $55. Single-container trucked US import shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026; data version 2026-10-22. https://freightbenchmarks.com/benchmarks/per-day-rates/#fig-per-day-rates-chassis-extra-day-rate-median-usd (CC BY 4.0)
Cite this figure
Freight Benchmarks (2026). Chassis days billed per trucked container, median: 3 days. Single-container trucked US import shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026; data version 2026-10-22. https://freightbenchmarks.com/benchmarks/per-day-rates/#fig-chassis-days-national-median-days (CC BY 4.0)
Per diem (detention) per day
Per diem is charged by the ocean carrier for each day its container stays out past the free days, until the empty is returned. 58.7% of per diem bills on single-container shipments state the days billed (importer-weighted); the rest are lump sums and are left out of these figures.
| Per diem | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile | 90th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rate per container per day | $150 | $172 | $195 | $250 |
| Days billed per container | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
Chassis extra days
Chassis extra days are the chassis rental days beyond those included in the drayage rate. 99.9% of these bills state the days, so the rate and the days cover nearly all of them.
| Port or rail hub | Rate per day, median | Middle half | Days billed, median | 1 in 10 bills | Bills |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis / St. Paul | $45 | $45–$55 | 4 | 9+ days | 448 |
| Chicago | $45 | $45–$55 | 3 | 6+ days | 333 |
| Los Angeles | $55 | $55 | 3 | 7+ days | 88 |
| Miami | $25 | $25–$30 | 3 | 6+ days | 67 |
| All ports in the data | $55 | $45–$55 | 3 | 7+ days | 2,179 |
Chassis days per trucked container
All the chassis days billed on a trucked container: the days in the drayage rate plus any extra days. The median container was billed 3 days and the mean was 4.2; 31.5% were billed 5 days or more. These are chassis days billed, which follow the trucker's minimum days, chassis pool rules and how fast the container is unloaded. They measure cost exposure, not terminal dwell.
Chassis days per trucked container, by port
Mean chassis days billed per container, single-container trucked shipments. Axis in days.
Dashed rule: all ports, 4.2 days.
| Port or rail hub | Median days | Mean days | 1 in 10 over | 5 days or more | Containers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis / St. Paul | 6 | 6.4 | 11 | 69.4% | 502 |
| Omaha | 4 | 4.5 | 7 | 42.5% | 517 |
| Chicago | 3 | 4.1 | 7 | 29.3% | 596 |
| Long Beach | 3 | 3.8 | 6 | 20.7% | 82 |
| Los Angeles | 3 | 3.6 | 7 | 24.7% | 248 |
| Houston | 3 | 3.6 | 7 | 17.7% | 140 |
| New York / New Jersey | 3 | 3.0 | 5 | 13.4% | 244 |
| Miami | 2 | 2.9 | 5 | 10.5% | 418 |
| All ports in the data | 3 | 4.2 | 8 | 31.5% | 4,336 |
Demurrage per day: a range, with caveats
Where invoices state the days, the middle half of demurrage daily rates ran $100 to $245 per container per day, for single-container shipments first invoiced January 2023 to June 2026. Only 36.1% of demurrage bills state the days (importer-weighted); the rest are lump sums.
Most demurrage is billed as one lump sum, so only bills that state the days are used here, over a longer window than the other figures. Those bills were smaller than lump-sum bills, so this range likely understates a typical day of demurrage. Terminal tariffs often rise with each day past free time, so long stays cost more per day.
How these are measured
- Shipments that carried one container and whose every line of the fee states the days billed, in the line quantity or in the line text. Lump-sum lines are left out of the rate, and the share of bills that state days is published with it.
- A line counts as stating the days when its quantity is a number of days (2 to 60, or any number of chassis extra days, whose unit price is a daily rate) or its description reads like "3 days". The rate per day is the bill divided by those days.
- Chassis days per container add the chassis rental days and the chassis extra days. Trucked shipments with one container: the days on the chassis rental lines plus the chassis extra day lines. The two codes split in 2024, so only their sum is comparable over time.
- No importer carries more than 25% of the weight behind any figure; rates and days need bills from at least 5 importers with an effective sample of 30. See the methodology.
Questions
How much is per diem (detention) per day?
In Freight Benchmarks' invoice data, per diem billed by the day ran a median $172 per container per day; the middle half of bills ran $150 to $195. That is from single-container shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026 whose per diem lines state the days.
How many days of per diem do importers usually pay?
A median of 2 days per container where the bill states the days; 1 in 10 of those bills covered 8 days or more.
How much is a chassis extra day?
A median $55 per day, and the median container billed extra chassis days paid for 3 of them.
How long does a trucked import container keep its chassis?
A median of 3 chassis days billed per container, counting the days in the drayage rate and any extra days; 31.5% were billed 5 days or more.
How much is demurrage per day?
Demurrage is often billed as one lump sum, so there is no clean daily rate. Where invoices state the days, the middle half of daily rates ran $100 to $245 per day, over shipments first invoiced January 2023 to June 2026. Terminal tariffs often rise with each day, so long stays cost more per day.
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