Best Detention Recovery Options for Carriers
2026 · UPDATED JUNE 2026
There’s no single “best” — it depends on how much time you have and whether the bill has already gone bad. ATRI found fewer than half of detention invoices get paid, so the real goal is picking the approach you’ll actually follow through on. Here are the five honest options, what each costs, and who each is for.
| Option | Fee | Who does the work | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akru (done-for-you) | 20% of recovered detention; $0 upfront, no recovery no fee | Akru — reads ELD, invoices, chases, collects | Small carriers with no time to chase |
| Detention-tracking apps | $9.99–$49/mo flat (DetentionIQ undisclosed) | You — the app detects + builds the invoice; you send/collect | DIY-minded carriers who want a cheap tool |
| Doing it yourself (manual) | No fee — your staff time | You — everything | Carriers with spare back-office time |
| Freight factoring | ~1.75–3.25% per factored invoice | Factor funds invoices you raise — not detention recovery | Cash-flow needs, not detention specifically |
| Collections agency | Contingency, quoted per claim (not public) | Agency — pursues debt already gone bad | Aged, disputed, or defaulted bills |
The five options, honestly
1. Self-serve, ELD-native, flat fee (Akru)
Akru reads your ELD, auto-detects detention via geofence with GPS-verified evidence, builds the invoice, and alerts you the moment detention starts accruing — for a flat $39/mo, and you keep 100% of what you recover. It’s the most automated option for a carrier on Samsara or Motive, and at $39/mo it’s cheaper than the comparable detention app. You stay the creditor and send the invoice yourself. Full breakdown: Akru vs. chasing it yourself.
2. Detention-tracking apps
Apps like DockClaim ($49/mo), Detention Source ($9.99/mo Lite), and DetentionIQ (pricing undisclosed) detect detention and generate an invoice — but you send it and chase payment yourself, and you keep 100%. Good if you’ll do your own collections. See Akru vs. detention-tracking apps.
3. Doing it yourself
No fee, full control — but it only works if you actually find the hours to pull ELD logs, build evidence, invoice, and chase AP for every claim. For most small carriers, that’s why detention goes uncollected. Walkthrough: how to get paid for detention.
4. Freight factoring
Factoring (e.g. Bobtail, ~1.75–3.25% per invoice) advances cash on invoices you’ve already raised — it’s a cash-flow tool, not a detention-recovery service, and doesn’t find unbilled detention. Complementary, not a substitute: Akru vs. factoring for detention.
5. Collections agency
A transportation collections agency pursues bills that have already gone bad — aged, disputed, or defaulted — on contingency, sometimes via legal forwarding. The right tool after a claim sours, not for routine billing: Akru vs. a collections agency.
How to choose
Short version: no time to chase it → done-for-you contingency. Time to chase it and want 100% → a cheap app or do it yourself. Bill already went bad → a collections agency. Cash flow, not detention → factoring. Most small carriers land on contingency precisely because the downside is zero.
FAQ
What’s the best way to recover detention pay?
It depends on your setup and the state of the claim. If you run an ELD, an automated tool like Akru detects and invoices detention for a flat $39/mo and you keep 100%. Phone-GPS apps work without an ELD. For a bill that has already gone bad, a collections agency is the right tool.
Is there a detention recovery tool with flat pricing?
Yes. Akru is a flat $39/mo (or $390/yr) subscription with a 14-day free trial — no percentage taken, so you keep 100% of what you recover.
Do detention-tracking apps collect the money for me?
No — and neither does Akru. These are self-serve tools: they detect detention and build the invoice, but you send it and stay the creditor. Only a collections agency collects on your behalf, and only once a debt has gone bad.
Does factoring recover detention?
Not directly. A factor advances cash on invoices you’ve already created; it doesn’t audit your ELD to find unbilled detention or pursue a detention-specific claim. It’s complementary to detention recovery, not a substitute.