Automatic Demurrage Reduction: From Standstill to Operational Savings

Automate demurrage tracking and reclaim control of your fleet.

Read the case

CHALLENGE

In rail freight, leased and rented railcars often remain too long at customer sites. This creates inefficiency, unexpected costs, and complex administration.

Pain points for logistics leaders:

Lack of visibility on when and where railcars are idle.
Manual tracking of standstill times and demurrage calculations.
Rising costs due to penalties and overcapacity rentals .
Customer misuse of railcars as “free storage.”
Operational strain: shippers must rent extra assets because returns are delayed.

The impact: rail freight leaders face millions in avoidable costs, strained customer relations, and lost asset utilization.

The ovinto solution

Ovinto transforms demurrage management from a manual penalty process into an automated, controlled workflow:

Connect: Integrate with TMS, ERP, and telematics to track exact standstill times per railcar in real time. Simple setup: start by sending shipment CSV files; later, direct system-to-system integrations.
Orchestrate: Automate demurrage calculation based on contract rules (e.g., “7 free days, then €40/day, then €100/day” ). Trigger alerts when thresholds are reached—both for shipper and customer. Generate invoices automatically, removing disputes and manual reconciliation.
Deliver: Provide real-time dashboards with asset status, demurrage exposure, and forecasts. Reduce reliance on spreadsheets and fragmented processes—100% visibility in one environment. Enable round-trip optimization by combining demurrage data with empty return triggers.

Results & Benefits

Visibility

100% real-time tracking of all assets and standstill times.
Early alerts prevent demurrage before costs accumulate.

Insights

Automated reports and dashboards for finance, operations, and customer teams.
Transparent data fosters better customer relationships.

Control

Up to 80% reduction in manual workload for demurrage tracking .
Savings of €X/month in avoided demurrage fees (depending on fleet size).
Optimized asset utilization reduces the need for renting extra railcars.

Seamless integration with existing systems—no IT disruption.

“We used to treat demurrage as an unavoidable penalty—messy, costly, and always disputed. With Ovinto, it’s become a controlled process. We’ve cut considerable amounts in waste and finally have full visibility on where every railcar stands. Our customers respect the rules now, because the data speaks for itself.”

— Head of Logistics, Global Petrochemicals Company