Akru vs. chasing detention pay yourself
Pick Akru if detention keeps slipping away because no one has time to document the dwell, build the invoice, and chase the shipper. A flat $39/mo automates all of it, and you keep 100% of what you recover.
Keep doing it manually if you already have someone with the hours to pull ELD logs, calculate the time, invoice, and follow up — and you’d rather not add a $39/mo subscription.
Why: Manual recovery is free only if your time is free; Akru does the audit, GPS evidence, invoicing, and automated follow-up for a flat $39/mo while you keep 100% — so the real comparison is "detention you’d otherwise never bill" vs. "whatever you find time for."
Akru vs. the alternative, line by line
| Feature | Akru | Doing it manually |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to start | $0 — 14-day free trial | $0 (your own time instead) |
| Fee model | Flat $39/mo — keep 100% of recoveries | You keep 100% |
| Effort required from you | Hands-off — connect ELD once | You document, calculate, invoice, and chase every claim |
| Finds detention you forgot to bill | Yes — audits ELD automatically | Only what you catch by hand |
| Evidence / ELD dwell-time handling | GPS-verified timestamps auto-attached to each invoice | You assemble proof manually |
| Who chases the shipper | You — with Akru’s automated reminders | You, by email/phone |
| Time to payment | ACH ~2–3 business days after the shipper pays | — |
| Minimum volume to qualify | None — even a single load | None |
| Recovery success rate | — | — |
| ELD integration (Samsara, Motive) | Yes | n/a — manual |
What each one actually costs
Flat subscription — automate what you don’t have time for
- $39/month or $390/year, 14-day free trial
- Keep 100% of every dollar you recover — no per-recovery cut
- A fixed monthly cost, predictable regardless of volume
No fee — staff hours instead
- You keep 100% of every dollar recovered
Akru is a flat $39/mo subscription and you keep 100% of recoveries. The manual column has no software fee by definition — its real cost is staff time plus the detention that never gets billed, which only you can quantify.
Who each one is honestly right for
Owner-operator / 1–5 trucks with no back office
There’s no spare hour to chase AP; at $39/mo Akru catches and bills detention you’d otherwise never recover — and you keep 100%.
You have dedicated, under-utilized billing staff
If someone is already on payroll with time to spare, doing it by hand avoids the subscription.
Detention slips because it’s nobody’s job
Akru makes it automatic — the claims you keep forgetting get caught and chased without you.
You want full control of every shipper conversation
Some carriers prefer to handle detention talks themselves rather than route them through a service.
Where doing it manually genuinely wins
- No software fee at all — manual recovery costs only your time, not a subscription.
- Full control of the shipper relationship and the tone of every collections conversation.
- No third party touching your ELD data or your customer’s AP department.
- For a carrier with spare back-office time, manual recovery has no out-of-pocket cost.
How hard is it to move?
There’s nothing to rip out. Akru reads your ELD read-only and never touches dispatch, so you can keep handling detention yourself and let Akru run alongside on the loads you don’t get to. Because it’s no-recovery-no-fee, turning it on costs nothing.
- 01
Connect your ELD
Link Samsara or Motive in one click; Akru reads arrival/departure timestamps read-only.
- 02
Connect payouts
Onboard Stripe Connect so the shipper’s payment lands straight in your bank — you keep 100%.
- 03
Let retrospective recovery run
Akru scans your last 90 days of ELD history and surfaces detention you never billed.
- 04
Keep or automate the rest
Keep chasing what you want by hand; let Akru detect, invoice, and auto-remind on the rest.
Common questions
Why pay $39/mo when I could just bill detention myself?
You can — if you have the time. Akru’s $39/mo buys the ELD audit, GPS-verified evidence, invoicing, and automated follow-up most small carriers never get to — and you keep 100% of what you recover. Recover detention on a single load most months and it has paid for itself.
Do I pay anything upfront?
No — there’s a 14-day free trial, then a flat $39/mo (or $390/yr). There’s no per-recovery cut: you keep 100% of the detention you recover.
Can I keep chasing some detention myself and let Akru do the rest?
Yes. Akru reads your ELD read-only and runs alongside whatever you already do, so you can hand off the loads you don’t have time to chase and keep the rest in-house.
How fast do I get paid once a shipper pays?
The shipper pays you directly through the invoice’s payment link; funds typically reach your bank in 2–3 business days via ACH. Akru takes no cut — you keep 100%.