Chassis
Day-counted equipment rental. Same date evidence as detention.
This one runs on a clock
It accrues every day until something stops it, so the number of days matters as much as the rate. Two figures decide the total: when the clock started, and how many free days you had. Both should be on your arrival notice.
What it is calculated on
Per day, which is why the number of days matters as much as the rate.
What it appears as on real documents
Providers write the same charge many different ways. All of these mean this charge:
- chassis
- chassis usage
- chassis rental
- chassis fee
- chassis split
- chassis per diem
- trailer rental
- equipment usage
What settles it when you question it
The test is whether the amount matches what was quoted, on the same basis. If the basis changed, that is the thing to ask about rather than the total.
Ask for:
- Published daily rate schedule
- Gate-out record
- Line-by-line calculation breakdown
Before you book
This is often missing from a quotation entirely — not excluded, just not mentioned. A charge a quotation is silent about is the one that arrives as a surprise.
Ask: Ask for the daily chassis rate and whether a chassis split charge may apply.
Check a chassis on your own invoice
Free, and no account needed to start.
Upload your quotation and final invoice. ChargeBasis pairs every charge on its normalised type rather than its wording, reports which part of the difference your documents actually explain, and names the document that would settle the rest.
Charges that travel with this one
- Documentation feePer-document charge. A second documentation fee on one bill of lading is a common duplicate.
- Fuel surchargePercentage or per-unit surcharge. Check the percentage applied and the base it was applied to.
- Security surchargeSmall fixed surcharge. Usually valid, but should still appear in the quoted inclusion list.
- StorageDay-counted. Needs a start date, a free-time allowance, and an end date to be checkable.
If this charge is on an invoice you are questioning
- Demurrage charged when the delay was not yoursDemurrage is billed per container per day, so a wrong start date or an uncounted free day is expensive. What the arrival…
- Charges that were never on the quoteSome charges legitimately cannot be quoted in advance and some should have been. How to tell which is which, using the q…
- Your freight invoice is higher than the quoteA practical method for reconciling a freight invoice against the quotation: which differences are contemplated by the qu…
- Can you refuse to pay a freight invoice?What withholding payment on a freight invoice actually does, why a lien over your cargo is the risk nobody mentions, and…
Common questions
- What is a chassis on a freight invoice?
- Day-counted equipment rental. Same date evidence as detention.
- What is a chassis calculated on?
- Per day, which is why the number of days matters as much as the rate.
- What should I ask for if I question a chassis?
- Ask for published daily rate schedule, gate-out record, line-by-line calculation breakdown. The test is whether the amount matches what was quoted, on the same basis.