Standstill beyond the agreed free time for loading or unloading is, as a rule, paid by the party that caused it. The CMR Convention sets no demurrage rates, so the basis is the transport order and reliably documented waiting time. The cheapest demurrage is the one that never happens: good slot booking and complete documents cover most cases.
Who pays when the truck waits on a UK job?
The principle is simple: the party responsible for the cause of the standstill pays. If the consignee's warehouse in England admits the truck six hours after the booked slot, the cost sits with the party responsible for unloading. If the vehicle stands because the shipper has not prepared the goods or the documents, the shipper answers for it. Who formally pays the carrier follows from the contract: we settle with our principal, who may then recover the cost from the party that caused the delay. That is why the order should clearly state the free time and the charging rules before the truck leaves.
How much time is free of charge?
No regulation fixes free hours in international transport; it is a matter of contract and market custom. In European practice, full-truckload jobs usually allow a few free hours for loading and for unloading, while in groupage what matters is the speed of individual operations, because the vehicle has more stops that day. We always write the specific values into the order, so both sides know from which hour the meter could even start. Watch out for warehouse rules in the UK: retail chains and distribution centres run their own slot regimes, described in our article on booking in at UK warehouses.
How is standstill documented?
- Arrival time confirmed on site: an entry on the delivery paperwork, a message trail or a photo at the gate.
- A note on the CMR consignment note with arrival and departure times and the reason for waiting.
- A waiting card or protocol signed by the warehouse, where the receiving party issues one.
- Live information to the principal: we flag a standstill as it happens, not afterwards, to give a chance to react.
That set is enough for a factual conversation about costs. Without it, settling a standstill turns into word against word.
Is a border or inspection stop also demurrage?
Clearance time in the standard flow is part of the transport and creates no charges, as we describe in how long UK customs clearance takes. A standstill caused by cargo-side reasons is different: a missing document, a wrong declaration, unpaid charges. If the truck stands at an inspection because the shipper's documents are incomplete, the cost of that stop sits with the party responsible for the documents. This is one more reason we take the clearance into our own order: it gives us real influence over there being nothing to charge for.
How do you avoid waiting charges?
Three habits cover most of the subject. First: slot booking with a realistic window and a confirmed slot, especially for deliveries to retail chains and tightly run warehouses. Second: documents completed before loading, because they generate the most expensive stops, the ones at the border. Third: an operational contact on both ends, so a moved slot is known before the truck arrives, not after. On express jobs with a van under 2.5 t there is one more: a short unloading window agreed with the consignee up front, because a light vehicle loses proportionally the most when standing.
Why do waiting charges exist at all?
A truck with a driver is an asset that earns only in motion. The driver's day is capped by driving time rules, so six hours at a ramp often means a whole daily stage of the route lost, and the next loadings and crossings pushed back. In groupage the effect spreads wider: one delayed linehaul vehicle holds up a dozen consignments from different shippers. The waiting charge is therefore not a punishment for the client but a reflection of the real cost of an immobilised asset, and a mechanism that motivates everyone to handle vehicles efficiently. For the same reason a well-priced transport offer assumes prompt loading and unloading: if a carrier built multi-hour standstills into every rate, all clients would pay for them, including those who turn vehicles around impeccably. Clear rules in the order protect both sides.
Sources
- Dziennik Ustaw: CMR Convention on the contract for international carriage of goods by road (accessed 17 Aug 2026)
- Dziennik Ustaw: Polish Transport Law (accessed 17 Aug 2026)
Want UK transport without arguments about waiting time? Write via our contact form: we set up slots, documents and a realistic schedule before the truck leaves.
