Ocean freight invoice audit: demurrage, detention, and destination charges vs your quote
The Warp ocean freight invoice audit takes a container invoice CSV, or one container entered by hand, checks ocean freight, origin charges, and destination charges against your quote, and recomputes demurrage and detention days from the discharge, pickup, and empty return dates. No login required.
How it works:Drop the carrier’s CSV or PDF, paste rows from Excel, or type one line. Check the column mapping, then read the findings in three tiers: dispute, review, note. Copy the letter.
What this audit catches
Ocean freight invoices carry more moving parts than a single freight charge: base ocean freight, origin charges, destination charges, and then demurrage and detention if a container sits past its free time. This tool checks all of it in one pass. It flags the ocean freight and origin charges when they differ from the quote, catches destination charges that show up on the invoice with no matching quote line, and recomputes demurrage and detention days from the discharge, pickup, and empty return dates you enter, so you are not trusting the forwarder’s math.
It also checks the demurrage and detention rate per day against a contracted rate if you have one, flags duplicate container lines, and flags a currency conversion that has drifted from a reference exchange rate you set.
How to run the audit
For a single container, fill in the quoted and invoiced amounts, the discharge date, the pickup (gate out) date, and the empty return date, along with the demurrage and detention rates and days billed. For a batch, export your container invoices to CSV with one row per container and upload the file. The tool matches common column headers automatically, so an export from a forwarder or a spreadsheet you built yourself will usually work without renaming columns.
Free time defaults to 4 days for both demurrage and detention, which is typical for many terminals and carriers but varies by port, equipment type, and contract. Set the free days to whatever is on your bill of lading or service contract before reading the results.
How Warp bills ocean freight instead
Warp confirms ocean freight on a call the same day, so the ocean freight, origin charges, and destination charges are set before the container moves instead of reconciled after the invoice lands. Every Warp invoice is audited against its quote, the same check this tool runs, before it reaches you.
Ocean freight invoice audit FAQ
What does an ocean freight invoice audit check?
An ocean freight invoice audit compares every line on the carrier or forwarder invoice against the original quote: the base ocean freight, origin charges, and destination charges (terminal handling, documentation fee, chassis, and drayage), plus demurrage and detention days and rates against the discharge, gate out, and empty return dates on the container record.
What is the difference between demurrage and detention?
Demurrage is the fee a terminal charges for a container that sits in the port or rail yard past its free time before it is picked up. Detention is the fee the carrier charges for the same container once it leaves the terminal, before it is returned empty. Both typically carry a few free days before charges start, and both are billed per day. Read the carrier or terminal's service guide for the free days on a specific move.
How do I calculate demurrage days?
Demurrage days are typically the number of days between the vessel discharge date and the date the container is picked up (gate out), minus the free days in the tariff or contract. If a container discharges on day 1 and is picked up on day 10 with 4 free days, that is 9 days minus 4 free days, or 5 billable demurrage days.
How do I calculate detention days?
Detention days are typically the number of days between the container pickup (gate out) date and the empty return date, minus the free days in the tariff or contract. If a container is picked up on day 10 and returned empty on day 15 with 4 free days, that is 5 days minus 4 free days, or 1 billable detention day.
What destination charges should be on an ocean freight quote?
A complete ocean freight quote should list terminal handling charges (THC), the documentation fee, chassis usage, and drayage to the final destination, if drayage is included. A destination charge that shows up on the invoice with no matching line on the quote is worth asking the forwarder about before paying.
Why would a container invoice show a different exchange rate than expected?
When an invoice is billed in a foreign currency, the forwarder applies an exchange rate to convert it. That rate can be pulled on a different date than your own contract or bank rate, which changes the US dollar total. Ask which date and source the forwarder's rate came from and compare it to your own reference rate before disputing.
Stop reconciling ocean freight invoices after the fact
Warp confirms ocean freight on a call the same day, and audits every invoice against its quote before it reaches you.
Performance figures are computed from Warp network data. See our methodology.