A container that sits at the terminal past its last free day starts costing money. The charges add up every day it stays. Nobody decided to pay them. They happen because a date went by while everyone was busy with something else.
This post is about that date: what it is, why it slips, and a short checklist a dispatcher can run every morning.
What the last free day is
The last free day is the last day you can take a container out of the terminal or the rail ramp without extra charges. After that, the meter runs.
The names for those charges vary, and so do the rules. In broad terms:
- Demurrage is usually charged by the steamship line while its container sits in the terminal past the free time.
- Storage is usually charged by the terminal or the rail operator for keeping the box on its ground.
- Per diem or detention usually starts after the box leaves the terminal, and runs until the empty is returned.
Who charges what, from which day, and how weekends and holidays count depends on the line, the terminal and your contracts. Read your tariffs once, write down what applies to your customers, and keep that note where dispatch can find it.
Why the date slips past
Almost nobody misses a last free day on purpose. The usual reasons are dull.
- The date moves. A train or a vessel runs late, and the box becomes available later than planned. The last free day moves with it, and nobody updates the spreadsheet.
- The box is not really ready. It shows as arrived, but a customs, line or terminal hold is still on it.
- Checking is slow. Someone logs in to the CN site, then the Port of Montreal terminal, then Montreal Gateway Terminals, one container at a time.
- The weekend. A last free day that lands on a Monday gets noticed on Monday.
- Equipment. The box is ready, but there is no chassis or no driver for it.
A daily checklist
Run this every morning, before the first truck leaves. It takes less time when the list is short, which is the point.
- List every open import with its last free day. Not just the ones you remember. Every box that is not yet picked up.
- Check availability and holds. For each box: is it off the train or the vessel, and is it released by customs, the line and the terminal?
- Sort by last free day. Today first, then tomorrow, then the day after. Everything else can wait for tomorrow’s check.
- Match each urgent box to a chassis and a driver. If the terminal needs an appointment, book it now, not at noon.
- Confirm where the empty goes back. A pickup that ends with nowhere to return the empty only moves the problem to per diem.
- Check again after updates. A vessel or train update can move a date in either direction.
- Tell the customer early. If a box cannot make its last free day, say so before the date, not after the invoice. Customers take bad news better when it arrives early.
- Keep a record. Note when each box became available and when its holds were released. If you dispute a charge later, those times are your case.
Put it where everyone can see it
A checklist that lives in one dispatcher’s head stops when that dispatcher is sick. Keep the list in the system your whole team uses, with the last free day next to the order, not in a separate sheet.
When the list is shared, the morning check becomes a habit instead of a heroic effort. A second person can run it.
How UTX Freight handles it
We built UTX Freight for carriers who pick up at CN and the Port of Montreal, so most of the checking in this list happens on its own.
- For orders in progress, UTX Freight checks the CN rail terminal, the Port of Montreal terminals (Termont and Viau) and Montreal Gateway Terminals every 10 minutes.
- Availability, holds, customs release, ETA and the last free day appear in the order’s tracking panel, with the history of changes. You copy ETA and last free day onto your orders, many at once.
- A Container Alerts page groups what needs attention: pickup ready, customs released, last free day approaching, departed. “Approaching” means today, tomorrow or the day after.
- A table lists the last free days coming up over the next seven days.
- Your team can subscribe to a daily email digest of all of it.
- Your customers can log in to their own portal to see their orders and signed proofs of delivery.
What it does not do: book terminal appointments, or make a charge go away when a box was never released in time. It makes sure nobody on your team learns about the date from the invoice.
If your mornings look like the list above, done by hand across three websites, talk to us. The UTX Freight documentation is public if you want to read how it works first.