Marine transportation / Managed BPO
Container demurrage and detention invoice review
Actigy BPO checks ocean container demurrage and detention invoices against the applicable free-time terms, rate basis and equipment events. We return the billed days, supported days and any evidence gap for each disputed line. Your team decides what to pay, challenge or accept as a credit.
Agree the scope, access and reviewer before a paid pilot.
- Invoice period
- Detention billed through Thursday
- Equipment receipt
- Empty container returned Wednesday
- Check
- Container, location, time and applicable rate rule
- Outcome
- Proposed adjustment; credit tracked separately
A worked example of the record and decision flow. Not a client case or promised result.
The work. The handoff. Your decision.
A defined workflow in your systems
For teams reconciling billed container days across steamship lines, terminals, drayage providers and empty-return locations.
You provide
Container invoice, tariff or contract and equipment event records.
Actigy BPO prepares
Day-count review with rate, source timestamp and proposed adjustment.
You retain
Challenge, payment decision and supplier settlement.
Decision owner: Client transport-finance owner. Confirm this role and the escalation contact in the written scope.
Service detail / 01
Which free-time rules and container events apply?
First identify the equipment, import or export movement, billing party and rate agreement or tariff supplied by your team. Check whether demurrage and detention are charged separately or as a combined period. Match the applicable dates to terminal availability, gate and empty-return records. Where the tariff or event is unclear, record the open question for your reviewer.
Worked example
What supports a challenge to a billed day?
Suppose the invoice bills detention through Thursday, but the equipment interchange receipt shows an empty return on Wednesday. Confirm the container number, return location, timestamp and rate rules. If the billed period differs from the supported period, give the client the day count, rate, calculation and receipt. Keep any proposed adjustment separate from a credit the supplier actually applies.
Service detail / 03
What reaches the client’s accounts payable team?
Return a line-by-line reconciliation with paid or unpaid status, billed and expected days, rate basis, evidence references and an outstanding question for each exception. Identify the recipient’s dispute window from the supplied instructions. Your owner approves payment, files or authorizes any challenge, and handles legal interpretation.
Service detail / 04
How do we size the review?
Start with one billing party, port and billing period. Separate invoices supported by the records from those missing gate events or requiring a contract decision. Track review hours, reviewer corrections, days to a completed file and credits actually applied. Those figures support a per-file or reserved-hours quote.
Before the first live queue
Bring the inputs that shape your scope
The proposal should identify what can be assigned, who can decide, and how you will accept the work. Start with one representative queue; agree any expansion after reviewing the pilot.
Define the workload
Carrier, trade direction, containers and separate or combined charge terms.
Agree the controls
Free-time rules, event sources and approved rate versions.
Review the right measures
Supported discrepancies, accepted adjustments and credits applied.
Before you decide
Buyer questions
Clarify the work, access and approval boundaries before assigning a team.
Is this the same as laytime on a voyage charter?
No. Container fees follow the relevant equipment, terminal and agreed free-time arrangements. Charter laytime uses the charterparty and vessel event record. The review needs different source documents.
Can Actigy guarantee a refund or decide whether a charge is enforceable?
No. The desk assembles documentary evidence and flags a discrepancy; the client decides the position, submission and settlement.
Who contacts the carrier or terminal?
Agree the permitted correspondence before the pilot. The desk can prepare a draft or seek records under your instructions. Your authorized owner controls disputes and commitments.
Do weekends and holidays always count in container charges?
Do not assume a common calendar rule. Use the applicable contract or tariff for the location, direction of travel and charge type, including the free-time start event and treatment of weekends or holidays. Flag an unresolved event or rule for the client instead of substituting a generic elapsed-day calculation.
Request a container charge review
Share monthly invoice count, destination ports, providers and the sources available for gate or empty-return events. Keep shipment records out of the inquiry.
Your inquiry
Container demurrage and detention invoice review
Describe the workload and the decision owner. Keep confidential records out of the form; agree a suitable channel for any later sample.
- Review the fitWe review the workflow and the inputs you provide.
- Define the scopeDiscuss access, coverage, review and the proposed fee.
- Agree a paid pilotApprove the written scope before work begins.