Container Free Time: What Importers Should Track

Between the freight quote and the final import invoice, there is a deadline most importers rarely track in real time: the free time on each container. The freight forwarder states a number of free days in the quote, the carrier books a different number, and the port terminal counts storage on its own calendar. All three are running at once, and the importer usually learns about all of them when the demurrage invoice has already landed. In Brazil, ANTAQ’s Decision 521/2025 now restricts demurrage charges to cases where the delay is the importer’s fault or choice, making the dates matter even more: to dispute or to prevent a charge, the importer needs to know when the countdown started and how many days remain.

Free time is a negotiated deadline, and each container has its own

Free time is the number of days a container can remain at the terminal or in the importer’s possession without demurrage charges. That number comes from a negotiation between the freight forwarder and the carrier, and it depends on three variables: the trade lane, the container type and the commercial arrangement.

Asia-to-Brazil routes typically carry 7 to 10 free days for dry containers. European routes may offer 10 to 14 days, depending on the carrier and contracted volume. Reefer containers, which require a power plug at the terminal, get shorter free time of 2 to 5 days. When the importer ships on a spot rate, free time follows the carrier’s standard tariff. Under a volume contract, the forwarder usually negotiates additional days as part of the package.

The number on the forwarder’s quote is the free time sold to the importer. It may match or differ from the free time the forwarder purchased from the carrier, because the forwarder manages that gap as part of its operation. For the importer, the sold number is what determines when demurrage charges begin.

Each container in the same shipment can carry different free time if there is an equipment mix. An import with two 40-foot dry containers and one 20-foot reefer might have, for example, 10 free days on the first two and 3 on the third. The demurrage invoice, when it arrives, usually bundles all containers together, and anyone who doesn’t know the free time on each one will have difficulty checking the math.

The countdown starts before the importer is notified

Under ANTAQ regulation, the free time countdown on imports begins the day after the container is discharged at the port terminal. Discharge is a terminal operation: the container comes off the vessel, moves through the yard and becomes available for pickup. The importer plays no part in that moment, and often only receives confirmation that the cargo has arrived hours or days later, when the forwarder sends the arrival notice.

That gap between discharge and notification is the first stretch of free time consumed without any awareness of it. If the vessel berths on a Friday and discharge happens on Saturday, but the arrival notice goes out on Monday, two days are already gone. On a 7-day free time, five remain.

The second stretch consumed without visibility is customs clearance. In Brazil, incoming cargo is assigned a clearance channel: green channel clears in hours; yellow channel requires documentary review and can take 2 to 5 days; red channel, with physical inspection, can exceed a week depending on the bonded terminal’s schedule and inspector availability. Regardless of channel, free time keeps running, and importers who don’t know how many days have elapsed cannot prioritize cargo pickup or negotiate an extension in advance.

The third stretch is pickup logistics. After clearance, the importer needs to arrange transport, coordinate delivery, devan the container and return the empty to the carrier’s designated depot. The return, and the depot’s acceptance, stops the clock. A truck that arrives one day late can mean one day of demurrage on every container in the lot.

Costs escalate in progressive tiers

Carrier demurrage tariffs are progressive: the longer the delay, the higher the daily rate. Maersk, for example, published its January 2026 tariff for Brazilian imports with 5 free days on dry containers. From day 6 to day 10, the rate is USD 55 per 20-foot container and USD 90 per 40-foot container. From day 11 onward, the tiers increase.

Demurrage charges stack on top of terminal storage fees, which follow a separate tariff. Ecoporto Santos, for example, charges BRL 1,263.85 per 20-foot container and BRL 1,750.23 per 40-foot container for the first 7-day period, according to its published 2025-2026 schedule. After the first period, rates climb in tiers similar to the carrier’s.

For the importer, the final cost of a delay combines three layers: carrier demurrage (in USD), terminal storage (in BRL) and, when applicable, detention for container possession outside the terminal (also in USD). The exchange rate on the payment date determines the BRL value of demurrage and detention.

A simple calculation illustrates how fast the cost grows. If an importer has 7 free days and takes 12 days from discharge to empty return, that is 5 days of demurrage. On a 40-foot container at USD 90 per day and an exchange rate of BRL 5.50 per dollar, carrier demurrage alone comes to BRL 2,475.00. Add terminal storage for the excess period and the total exceeds BRL 4,000.00 per container. On a lot of 4 containers, the additional cost can surpass BRL 16,000.00, a figure that typically represents 3% to 8% of the total freight cost on the import, depending on the route and volume.

What ANTAQ Decision 521/2025 changed for importers

In August 2025, ANTAQ (Brazil’s waterway transport regulator) published Decision 521/2025, restricting demurrage charges to situations where the delay results from the user’s fault, interest or choice. Previously, market practice was to charge demurrage automatically for every day beyond free time, regardless of cause.

Under the new framework, an importer whose cargo was held by Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service, such as a prolonged physical inspection under the red channel, can dispute demurrage charges for the days of retention. The day count is also suspended when the importer attempts to return the empty container and the carrier’s depot refuses acceptance due to lack of space or operational restrictions.

The change strengthens the importer’s position, but it depends on dates. To dispute, the importer must demonstrate that the delay had a cause beyond their control, and that requires knowing exactly when the countdown started, how many days the container was held by customs and when the empty return was attempted. Without that information, the dispute is weak. Importers who track dates throughout the process have the records to approach the forwarder or carrier under the Decision. Those who only receive the invoice must reconstruct the timeline afterward, and reconstruction usually depends on information sitting in the forwarder’s system.

ANTAQ also opened Public Consultation SRG 03/2026 to review demurrage regulation as part of its 2025-2028 Regulatory Agenda, signaling that further rules may follow. For importers, the immediate practical consequence is that tracking dates has shifted from best practice to a requirement for exercising a right.

What to ask your freight forwarder before shipping

Free time is information the importer can and should request before the shipment, during the quoting phase. The negotiation happens between the forwarder and the carrier, but the outcome directly affects the import’s final cost. Three points make a practical difference.

The first is the number of free days by container type. Freight quotes usually list free time on a separate line or in a footnote, but do not always specify whether the deadline applies equally to dry and reefer equipment. When the import involves a refrigerated container, the importer needs to ask, because the difference can be 7 days more or fewer.

The second is how to track the countdown after the shipment sails. Some forwarders send alerts when free time is about to expire. Others report the discharge date and leave the math to the importer. Knowing, before closing the deal, how the forwarder communicates free time status helps the importer plan for pickup and empty return.

The third is the carrier’s progressive tariff. The quote may say “7 days of free time,” but it rarely states how much day 8, day 15 or day 30 costs. Requesting the carrier’s demurrage tariff before shipping lets the importer calculate the cost of a delay before it happens, and decide whether to negotiate more free days on the next quote or invest in pickup logistics to meet the deadline.

Together, these three pieces of information turn free time from a line on the quote into a deadline that can actually be managed. And since Decision 521/2025, they also document the dates that may be needed to dispute an unwarranted charge.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the free time countdown start on an import?

The free time countdown starts the day after the container is discharged at the port terminal, per ANTAQ regulation. The importer is not always notified on the same day, and the gap between discharge and arrival notice consumes free days without the importer’s knowledge.

What is the difference between demurrage and detention?

Demurrage is the carrier’s charge for a full container remaining at the port terminal beyond free time. Detention is the charge for the container being in the importer’s possession outside the terminal, between pickup and empty return to the depot. The two periods can run consecutively, and both generate daily charges in USD.

Is demurrage charged in USD or local currency?

The carrier’s demurrage tariff is set in US dollars. Payment in local currency uses the exchange rate on the settlement date or the date the forwarder defines on the invoice. Terminal storage, by contrast, is billed in local currency.

How Tier2 Portal shows the free time countdown to the business partner

The lack of visibility importers have over each container’s free time is precisely the kind of information Tier2 Portal delivers to the freight forwarder’s business partner. The portal displays a per-container free time countdown, read directly from Tier2 Cargo, showing the days remaining before demurrage begins. The business partner sees this alongside shipments, documents and invoices, without calling or emailing the operator.

The countdown shown in the portal uses the free time sold in the quote, which is the deadline that matters to the importer. When that deadline passes and demurrage starts accruing, the date records remain in Tier2 Cargo, giving the forwarder the history the importer may need for a dispute under Decision 521/2025.

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Going into the next freight quote knowing how many free days are needed per container type, how the countdown will be communicated and what the carrier’s demurrage tariff looks like means having numbers in hand before the invoice arrives, not after.