Each leased container gets the Free Days set on the lease. Once this allowance is used up, every extra day is billed at the deal's Per Diem rate.
How the calculation works
- Counting starts at pickup. The pickup day counts as the first rental day.
- The drop-off day counts too. Both ends are included: a container picked up on 1 March and returned on 10 March is rented for 10 days.
- The allowance belongs to each container. Two containers picked up on different dates do not run out of free days at the same moment.
- The allowance carries over from one invoice to the next. If you invoice a container in several parts, the days already elapsed use up the free days first; only the days beyond the allowance are billed.
Example: 60 free days, per diem of 2 USD. CSQU3054383 is picked up on 1 March and returned on 9 May. It is rented for 70 days (31 in March, 30 in April, 9 in May). The first 60 days are free, the next 10 are billed: 10 × 2 = 20 USD.
If you invoice first up to 31 March, all 31 days of March are free and 29 free days remain. A second invoice from 1 April to 9 May covers 39 days, 29 free and 10 billed: you reach the same total.
Steps: create a per diem invoice
- Open the lease, Finance tab.
- Click Create Per Diems Invoice. The button is greyed out while no container has a billable day.
- In Billing period, the Period Start Date is set automatically: the first day not yet invoiced. Choose the Period End Date (today by default).
- In Containers to bill, tick the containers. Each line shows the number of days, the period and the estimated amount.
- Add a note if needed, then confirm. The invoice is created as a draft.
Good to know
- The end date can be in the future: you then invoice days that have not elapsed yet, and a warning is shown.
- A container already returned stops at its own drop-off date, even if the period goes further.
- Containers still within their free days are listed separately, marked "Free until".
- The next per diem invoice resumes the day after the last period invoiced for each container.
- Do not confuse with the Free Storage Period (days): it covers the depot stay between the release and the pickup, billed at the Daily Storage Charge with a storage invoice.
- The Diems column of the Containers tab shows the per diem of each container.
Frequently asked questions
Does a container returned within its free days generate per diems?
No. If it comes back within its free day allowance, it has no billable day.
Can the free days left on one container be used by another?
No, the allowance is calculated container by container.
I correct a pickup date: what happens to the calculation?
Days are counted again from the new date. Use Update Pickup Date in the lease Containers tab.
Do per diems block the closing of the lease?
Yes. While per diems remain to be invoiced, the lease cannot become Completed.