What happens if I miss the Last Free Day?

If you miss port LFD, demurrage starts the next day。 If you miss equipment LFD, detention or per diem charges begin。 Both can escalate in tiers, turning a short delay into a significant cost event if containers remain in the terminal or outside the depot beyond LFD。

Last Free Day (LFD) Explained (2025) — Port Storage & Container Use Cutoffs Updated Dec 2025

Q: Is Last Free Day the same as free time?

Free time is the entire period during which no demurrage or detention is charged. Last Free Day (LFD) is the final calendar day of that period. The day after LFD is when demurrage in the terminal or detention on the container starts.

Q: How is LFD calculated for my shipment?

LFD is usually calculated by taking the container availability date and adding the number of free days defined in the carrier or terminal tariff. Many carriers use calendar days, so weekends and holidays are still counted unless the tariff states otherwise.

Q: Can Last Free Day be extended or negotiated?

Extra free time or LFD extensions are usually negotiated before shipment as part of service contracts, especially for high-volume shippers。 After LFD is missed, carriers may offer partial waivers for documented issues such as depot closures, but these are discretionary and require quick coordination with the forwarder and carrier。

Source: Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), major ocean carriers (Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM), North America and EU terminal & equipment tariffs, and WinsBS Research (2025).

What Is Last Free Day (LFD) in Shipping?

View Industry Definition & Context

Last Free Day (LFD) is the final calendar day of free time allowed by the carrier or terminal before charges begin on a shipment. After LFD, terminal demurrage or detention (container per diem) fees start to accrue.

In practice, there are usually two related LFD concepts on the same shipment:

Port / Terminal LFD: last free day for a full container to stay inside the terminal without demurrage.
Equipment (Container) LFD: last free day to keep a full or empty container outside the terminal before detention (per diem) begins.

LFD is therefore the “switch point”: once a container passes LFD without being picked up or returned (depending on context), the shipment moves from “free time” into chargeable days.

“Last Free Day is the exact calendar day when a shipment’s free time expires. The next day, the clock switches to demurrage in the terminal or detention on the container — often at tiered daily rates that can quietly erode margin.”
— WinsBS Research, Demurrage & Detention Impact on E-commerce Landed Cost 2025

How LFD Is Calculated — Free Time, Calendar Days & Charge Start

Element	Typical Definition	Common Practice / Notes
Free Time	Number of days a shipment can stay in the terminal or a container can be used without storage or per diem fees.	Often 3–7 days for port demurrage and 5–10 days for container detention, varying by carrier, trade lane, and contract.
Start of Free Time	For imports, usually begins on the first calendar day after container availability or discharge from vessel / rail.	Some terminals start free time from “available for pickup” status rather than discharge time, especially where customs holds apply.
Port / Demurrage LFD	Final calendar day a full import container can remain inside the terminal without demurrage.	The day after this LFD, demurrage starts. Missing this LFD is often linked to customs delays, DO issues, or missed truck slots.
Equipment / Detention LFD	Final calendar day a full or empty container can stay outside the terminal before detention fees start.	Usually counted from gate-out date; the day after LFD becomes day 1 detention if empties are not returned to the designated depot.
Calendar vs Working Days	Carrier and terminal tariffs specify whether free time and LFD use calendar days or working days.	Most North American terminals and carriers use calendar days. Weekend and holiday rules can still affect when pickups and returns are possible.
Where to See LFD	LFD often appears on carrier tracking, terminal portals, arrival notices, or invoices.	For e-commerce importers, LFD should be mirrored into OMS / WMS tasks, not just buried in carrier portals.

For cross-border e-commerce brands, LFD is the day when “maybe we have time” turns into “every extra day costs money.” Missed LFDs convert operational delays — customs exams, late appointments, slow unloading — into landed cost creep.

How LFD Connects Demurrage & Detention

Aspect	Port / Demurrage LFD	Equipment / Detention LFD
Where LFD Applies	Full container inside the port or terminal.	Full or empty container outside the terminal (yard, warehouse, customer site).
What Happens After LFD	Demurrage storage fees start on the next day.	Detention / per diem container fees start on the next day.
Typical Root Causes	Customs holds, late DO, missing arrival notice, or truck booking constraints.	Slow unloading, using containers as storage, drayage delays, depot congestion, or appointment scarcity.
Operational Focus	Clearing and picking up containers before terminal LFD.	Unloading and returning empties before equipment LFD.

Effective importers treat LFD as a hard deadline in both port and inland plans, tying it to ETA, cut-off times, and inbound appointments for FBA and 3PL warehouses.

Regional Patterns & LFD Practices (2025)

View Trade Lane LFD Characteristics

Trade Lane / Scenario	Key Actors	LFD Considerations
Asia → US West/East Coast	Carriers, terminals, truckers, 3PLs	Port demurrage free time often 3–5 days; equipment free time 5–10 days, with separate LFDs that can be easily confused. High-volume e-commerce seasons compress free time and make weekend LFDs more expensive if trucks cannot pull on Sunday. WinsBS data shows that misreading Friday LFDs routinely adds 2–3 chargeable days per container over a weekend.
Asia → US Inland Ramps (Rail)	Railroads, inland depots, truckers	Rail terminals may publish different LFDs than coastal ports, with separate demurrage rules. Tight cut-off times for ramp pickup mean ETA, customs release, and rail availability must line up before LFD. Missed rail LFD can trigger both inland demurrage and tighter windows for equipment return LFD.
Asia → EU Hubs & Inland Distribution	EU ports, forwarders, DCs	Some terminals use working days for free time while carriers still count LFD on calendar days, creating planning gaps. Cross-border EU distribution from a single hub often holds containers longer for sticker, label, and VAT-compliant pallet prep. Transloading into warehouse pallets shortly after discharge is now common to avoid LFD risk.
Port → FBA / 3PL Warehouse	3PLs, drayage carriers, Amazon FCs	LFD must be coordinated with FBA or 3PL appointment slots; scarce dock times can push moves past port LFD. Some brands prioritize appointment convenience over LFD alignment, paying demurrage or detention rather than flexing routing. WinsBS recommends splitting loads and using cross-docks so that container LFD does not depend on a single FC appointment.
LCL & CFS-Based Shipments	CFS operators, NVOCCs, forwarders	For LCL, consolidators manage container-level LFD but small shippers still pay when storage and handling charges reflect demurrage exposure. Delays in customs exams or poor documentation can cause CFS dwell that pushes containers beyond LFD. Clean ASN data and pallet-ready cartons shorten the path between discharge and LFD-sensitive moves.

Expert Insight — Why Last Free Day Is the “Zero Line” for Port & Equipment Costs

View Analyst Commentary

Maxwell Anderson, Editor-in-Chief & Data Director, WinsBS Research:

1. LFD is the point where “planning” turns into “paying”.
Brands track ETA obsessively, but the real cost trigger is LFD. Once a box passes LFD in the yard or at the terminal, every day becomes a line item — demurrage in the terminal or detention on the container. We see many teams treat LFD as a soft reference, when in reality it is a hard financial cutoff。

2. Most LFD misses are calendar mistakes, not customs disasters。
Our case studies show that many LFD overruns come from weekend/holiday rules, appointment slots, and misaligned drayage scheduling — not exotic customs holds。 A Friday LFD paired with a Monday appointment is a classic scenario where planning ignores the cost of the weekend gap。

3. Port LFD and equipment LFD must be tracked separately。
Leading importers treat demurrage LFD and detention LFD as two separate KPIs。 A container may clear the port LFD successfully but still blow past the equipment LFD because empty return has not been planned。 When both are grouped under “misc. fees,” teams never find the real root cause。

4. E-commerce sellers need ETA + LFD-aware inbound design。
For Amazon and Shopify brands, inbound planning that only looks at vessel schedules and appointment dates will miss the cost impact of LFD。Durable flows connect ETA, customs clearance, LFD dates, and warehouse capacity on the same dashboard, not in separate spreadsheets。

5. The cheapest freight quote can become the most expensive once LFD risk is priced in。
WinsBS benchmarks show that paying slightly more for drayage with guaranteed pulls before LFD often beats low-cost options that leave containers exposed to multiple days of demurrage or detention。LFD-aware routing is often the difference between a healthy promotion and margin erosion that nobody can explain in the P&L。

— WinsBS Research, Port Storage & Container Equipment Cost Benchmark 2025

Risk Radar — LFD-Related Risks (2025)

View Critical Risk Scenarios

Last Free Day (LFD) FAQ — Common Questions from Importers & E-commerce Brands

Is Last Free Day the same as free time?

Not exactly. Free time is the entire period during which no demurrage or detention is charged. Last Free Day (LFD) is the final calendar day of that period. The day after LFD is when demurrage (inside the terminal) or detention (outside the terminal) starts.

How is LFD calculated for my shipment?

LFD is usually calculated by taking the container availability date (or discharge date) and adding the number of free days defined in the carrier or terminal tariff. Many carriers use calendar days, not working days, so weekends and holidays are still counted unless the tariff says otherwise.

Where can I find the LFD for a container?

LFD is often displayed on carrier tracking portals, terminal websites, arrival notices, and invoices. For e-commerce brands, it is best practice to copy LFD into order management and warehouse systems so teams do not rely solely on external portals or emails.

Can LFD be extended or negotiated?

Sometimes. Extra free time or LFD extensions are usually negotiated before shipment as part of service contracts, especially for high-volume shippers. After LFD is missed, carriers may offer partial waivers for documented issues like depot closures, but these are discretionary and require quick coordination with the forwarder and carrier.

What happens if I miss the LFD?

If you miss port LFD, demurrage charges start the next day. If you miss equipment LFD, detention (per diem) charges begin. Both can escalate in tiers — for example, days 1–5 at a base rate and later days at higher multipliers — turning a short delay into a significant cost event.

Turn LFD from a “Gotcha” Date into a Controlled KPI

For cross-border e-commerce, Last Free Day is where carrier tariffs, port operations, and warehouse capacity collide。 A missed LFD can erase margin on a promotion, force overtime shifts, and quietly push up your landed cost per SKU。

WinsBS helps brands make LFD a visible, manageable part of their logistics stack by:

Mapping port and equipment free time and LFD rules across your main carriers and terminals, then integrating them into OMS and WMS task queues。
Coordinating drayage schedules, warehouse receiving hours, and depot cutoffs so port pulls, unloading, and empty returns are booked before LFD — not after。
Using U.S. transit hubs and cross-dock options to decouple FBA or 3PL appointment constraints from LFD dates at ports and inland ramps。
Feeding LFD-driven demurrage and detention costs into your landed cost calculations, so high-risk routes and carriers are visible and fixable。
Designing LFD-aware routing that balances low base freight rates with predictable storage and equipment cost exposure across seasons。

When LFD is treated as a vague reference date, brands end up paying demurrage and detention as an “inevitable” tax。 WinsBS turns LFD, demurrage, and detention into one integrated workflow tied directly to your e-commerce SLAs and promotion calendar。

Get Started for Free →

WinsBS Blog Insights

Port terminal view with LFD calendar overlay — WinsBS visual reference

LFD 101: Last Free Day for Demurrage & Detention

A practical guide to how carriers define free time and LFD, with examples showing how one missed date can trigger both port and equipment fees on e-commerce shipments。

Read Full Guide →

Cost breakdown chart highlighting LFD-driven demurrage and detention — WinsBS visual reference

How LFD Misreads Inflate E-commerce Landed Cost

WinsBS Research case studies where weekend and holiday LFD rules quietly added 3–5 days of fees — and how better calendar controls reversed the trend。

View Analysis →

Workflow diagram linking ETA, customs, LFD, and FBA appointments — WinsBS visual reference

Designing ETA + LFD-Aware Flows for FBA & 3PL

How to connect vessel ETA, customs clearance, LFD, and inbound appointments so brands avoid last-minute drayage and overtime just to beat the clock。

View Benchmarks →

Content Attribution & License

General definitions and public references are shared under the CC BY-SA 4.0 License。

Analytical insights and commentary labeled “WinsBS Research” are © WinsBS Research (2025) and licensed exclusively to WinsBS Wiki。

Data sources include FMC guidance on demurrage and detention practices, CBP and DHS documentation on customs processes, major carrier and terminal tariffs, and WinsBS Research datasets on e-commerce landed cost, free time, and LFD performance。

* Information verified as of December 2025. WinsBS Research assumes no liability for regulatory, tariff, or schedule changes after publication.