Demoras are delays and the detention charges they generate when a truck or driver is held beyond agreed free time at a shipper, receiver, or border facility. Mexican detention norms differ sharply from U.S. ones, so cross-border loads need detention terms in writing.
Demoras is the Spanish word for delays, and in freight it carries the same commercial weight as 'detention' in the U.S.: compensation owed when a truck and driver are held beyond the free time included in the rate. The cross-border complication is that the two markets carry different assumptions. Mexican loading and unloading windows run longer than U.S. ones, detention clocks conventionally start later, and a full-shift loading at a Mexican plant may be considered normal where a U.S. dispatcher would already be invoicing. Border facilities add their own layer, with yard time and previo stops that belong to the plan rather than to detention.
Unwritten detention expectations are the single most reliable generator of cross-border payment disputes. The fix is boring and effective: put detention terms in the rate confirmation for every leg, specifying free hours at pickup and delivery, the rate per hour or day after that, how border and customs delays are treated, and what evidence (in/out times, photos) supports a claim. Align expectations with reality on each side of the border rather than importing U.S. norms southbound. Related accessorial vocabulary rides along here too: layovers, lumper-style unloading fees, and multi-day holds all need a written home. Distinguish demoras from estadías, the per-day charges for trailers held at yards and borders; the two overlap but get negotiated separately.
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