In practice: the demurrage clock usually starts at discharge. Common causes are missing or rejected documents, unpaid duties, customs inspection, valuation disputes and port congestion. Daily rates normally rise in tiers the longer the container stays, and terminals may charge storage on top. Because these charges can quickly exceed the freight, agree free days in writing and prepare documents before arrival.

Example: a container is discharged at Umm Qasr with 7 free days, but the certificate of origin was not e-verified, so clearance takes 12 days and 5 days of demurrage accrue. In our portal, a countdown per container warns three days before free time ends; try the demurrage calculator.