Last Free Day (LFD)

Definition

Last Free Day is the final day a container can remain at the port terminal or with the consignee without incurring demurrage or detention charges. LFD is calculated from the container availability date plus the carrier's free time allowance, which varies by carrier, port, and contract terms.

Why it matters

Missing the LFD is the most common avoidable cost in ocean import operations. The LFD notice arrives by email from the carrier or terminal, often buried in a shared inbox. At 80 to 200 active containers per month, one unread LFD email becomes a detention invoice.

How LFD is calculated

Free time starts on the container availability date, which is the date the terminal confirms the container is ready for pickup. Most carrier service contracts grant 4 to 7 business days of free time at destination. The LFD is container availability date plus that free time allowance. Important: free time counts business days, not calendar days, but the terminal may use calendar days for certain ports or during peak periods. The carrier's booking confirmation or tariff governs which rule applies. When customs clearance is delayed, the availability date may pass before the shipment is released, meaning free time is running even though the container cannot legally move.

Demurrage vs. detention after the LFD

After the LFD, two separate charges can apply depending on where the container is. Demurrage applies while the container remains inside the port terminal, charged per container per day by the terminal or carrier. Detention applies after the container leaves the terminal but before it is returned empty to the carrier's depot. Both charges accrue independently, and on some lanes both can run simultaneously if a container goes to a yard before delivery. Per-day rates vary by carrier and contract, but $100 to $300 per container per day is common in a normal market. During peak congestion periods at major ports, rates have reached $500 or more per day.

The operational discipline that prevents LFD misses

The container availability date and LFD are contained in the arrival notice email. In a manual workflow, someone on the ops team reads the arrival notice, finds the LFD, and either flags it for drayage scheduling or relies on memory. At 80 to 200 active containers this process breaks down, because a notice that arrives on a Friday afternoon, or in the middle of a heavy pre-alert day, may not be actioned before the LFD passes. The cost of a single missed LFD on a 40-foot container at a major port, at $150 per day for 3 days, is $450. The cost across ten missed containers in a peak month is $4,500. At that scale, the ops discipline is the cost control.