Free Time
The contractually allowed period for loading, unloading or holding equipment before charges begin.
Free time is the grace period written into a contract — so many hours at a loading point, so many days for a container at a terminal — during which no demurrage or detention accrues. Once it expires, charges begin, usually at escalating rates.
The detail that causes disputes is when the clock starts and whether it runs continuously. Does it begin at gate-in or at the reporting time? Do Sundays and public holidays count? Is it working hours or calendar hours? Contracts that leave these unstated generate an argument every time the charge is raised.
Free time should be configured per customer in the billing system rather than applied as a company default, because it is almost always negotiated individually. A single global setting guarantees that some customers are under-billed and others are over-billed.
Related terms
Time & charges
Where waiting turns into money — in both directions.
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