FMC Part 541 explained: the 20 elements every D&D invoice must carry

Why the count is 20, not 13

A lot of D&D commentary still repeats that a compliant invoice needs "13 data elements". Read the regulation itself and you get a different number. 46 CFR § 541.6 lists 20 minimum items, arranged in five paragraphs: (a) identifying information, (b) timing information, (c) rate information, (d) dispute information and (e) certifications. If your audit checklist has 13 rows, it is missing seven ways an invoice can fail.

The rule came out of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (Pub. L. 117-146), which directed the Federal Maritime Commission to set minimum billing requirements. The final rule was published at 89 Fed. Reg. 14330 on February 26, 2024 and took effect May 28, 2024. It applies to demurrage and detention invoices issued by ocean common carriers (VOCCs and NVOCCs) and marine terminal operators (MTOs). Under § 541.2 it does not govern billing between ocean carriers and MTOs themselves.

The reason the count matters is § 541.5. It says that failure to include the required minimum information "eliminates any obligation" of the billed party to pay the applicable charge. There is no materiality threshold and no cure period written into the section. One missing element is enough.

Group (a): identifying information

Four elements tie the charge to a shipment and to you. The invoice must show the bill of lading number(s), the container number(s), for imports the port(s) of discharge, and the basis for why the billed party is the proper party of interest and therefore liable for the charge.

The first three are usually present because they come straight out of the carrier's or terminal's system. The fourth is where invoices fail. A line that just repeats your name, or prints "consignee" with no explanation, does not tell you why you, rather than your forwarder, your customs broker or your trucker, owe the money.

One development to keep straight: the original rule also had § 541.4, which limited who could be invoiced to the person that contracted with the billing party for carriage or storage, or the consignee. On September 23, 2025, the D.C. Circuit vacated § 541.4 in World Shipping Council v. FMC, finding the Commission's treatment of motor carriers inadequately explained. The FMC then removed the section, and it now reads "Reserved" in the CFR. The basis requirement in § 541.6(a)(4) was not part of that ruling and remains in force, so the invoice must still explain why the billed party is liable.

• (a)(1) Bill of lading number(s)
• (a)(2) Container number(s)
• (a)(3) For imports, port(s) of discharge
• (a)(4) Basis for why the billed party is the proper party and liable

Group (b): eight timing elements

Timing is the largest group and the one most often incomplete. The invoice must carry the invoice date, the invoice due date, the allowed free time in days, the start date of free time, the end date of free time, for imports the container availability date, for exports the earliest return date, and the specific date(s) for which demurrage or detention was charged.

Two of these are direction specific. An import invoice needs the container availability date, not just the vessel discharge date. An export invoice needs the earliest return date (ERD), the first day the terminal would accept the loaded box. When either is missing, you cannot check whether free time began when the cargo could actually move, which is exactly the question the incentive principle in 46 CFR § 545.5 asks.

Watch for invoices that print a free time count but not the start and end dates, or that show a total of days charged without listing which days. A day count is not a date. If the specific dates are absent, element (b)(8) is missing.

• (b)(1) Invoice date and (b)(2) invoice due date
• (b)(3) Allowed free time in days
• (b)(4) Start date and (b)(5) end date of free time
• (b)(6) Container availability date (imports)
• (b)(7) Earliest return date (exports)
• (b)(8) Specific date(s) charged

Groups (c) and (d): rate and dispute information

Three rate elements let you test the arithmetic: the total amount due, the applicable demurrage or detention rule on which the daily rate is based (for example a tariff rule, terminal schedule, or service contract number and section), and the specific rate or rates per that rule or contract. An invoice that shows a daily rate but no rule reference fails (c)(2). A tiered rate schedule should show each tier that was applied.

Three dispute elements tell you how to push back. The invoice must give an email, telephone number or other contact information for questions or requests for fee mitigation, refund or waiver. It must include a digital means, such as a URL, QR code or digital watermark, that leads to a publicly accessible page describing what information a request must contain. And it must state defined timeframes, consistent with Part 541, for submitting requests and for the billing party to resolve them.

Those timeframes have a floor. Under § 541.8, the billed party gets at least 30 calendar days from the invoice issuance date to request mitigation, refund or waiver, and the billing party must attempt to resolve a request within 30 calendar days of receipt unless both sides agree to a later date. An invoice stating a 15-day dispute window does not satisfy (d)(3).

Group (e): the two certifications

Every invoice must certify two things: that the charges are consistent with the FMC's rules on demurrage and detention, and that the billing party's performance did not cause or contribute to the underlying charges.

The second certification is more than boilerplate. If the terminal had no import appointments for three days, or the carrier refused empty returns at its designated depot, the billing party has certified something your evidence may contradict. A missing certification is a § 541.5 failure. A certification that your gate and appointment records contradict is the opening argument of an incentive principle dispute.

Worked example: one invoice, two failures

Cedar Ridge Home Goods, a furniture importer, receives a demurrage invoice from an MTO covering four 40-foot containers discharged at a West Coast terminal. Each container is billed 6 days at $225 per day, so the invoice totals 4 x 6 x $225 = $5,400.

The element check finds two gaps. The invoice prints the discharge date but no container availability date, so (b)(6) is missing. The footer gives a phone number but no URL, QR code or watermark leading to a public page on request requirements, so (d)(2) is missing. Everything else is present, including the rule reference and the two certifications.

Under § 541.5, either gap alone eliminates Cedar Ridge's obligation to pay the $5,400. The dispute does not need to argue that the days were unfair. It cites §§ 541.5, 541.6(b)(6) and 541.6(d)(2), attaches the invoice with the gaps marked, and goes out well inside the 30-day request window. If the terminal reissues a corrected invoice, a new element check runs, and the § 541.7 timing question (was the corrected invoice issued within 30 days of the date the charge was last incurred) becomes the next issue.

Running the check on every invoice

Nothing in an element check is difficult. The problem is volume and time. A 3,000 TEU importer can see hundreds of D&D invoices a year from carriers, MTOs and its own forwarders, in PDF, portal and EDI formats, each with its own 30-day clock. On ATAHSKIA platform data, 68.4% of audited invoices failed at least one Part 541 check, so the issue is not rare.

The OSRA Audit Engine extracts every field, maps it to the 20 elements and the § 541.7 issuance rule, and flags the gaps with the exact subsection. The Automated Disputes module turns those flags into a cited packet sent inside the § 541.8 window. Our invoice checklist at /resources/invoice-checklist lays out the same 20 rows if you want to run the first audit by hand.

ATAHSKIA is audit and dispute preparation software, not a law firm. For questions about how the rules apply to a particular contract or charge, talk to maritime counsel.