Heavy guides
Cargo is not the tower's hostage
The freight is usually worth more than the truck. Which states force its release, what 'promptly' means, and the words that start the clock.
The freight on the trailer is usually worth more than the truck, the shipper is already calling, and the carrier is liable for the cargo while it sits. That is why cargo release is a verdict line of its own in the heavy checker — printed whenever freight is aboard, even when every dollar on the bill is legal.
The law, where it has spoken, is blunt. North Carolina (SB 311, effective December 1, 2025): after a nonconsensual or government tow, the tower must promptly return commercial cargo on request; trailer swaps only with a similar, working trailer no more than five years older. Maryland (2022): third-party cargo must be released regardless of whether the bill is paid — the state's own testimony called holding it what it is. Mississippi: personal property in the vehicle must be accessible regardless of payment.
Where no cargo statute exists, the letter still goes out the same day — bill of lading cited, shipper and insurer copied — because a tower holding freight it refuses to release is manufacturing storage charges, and that fact belongs in every later filing.
Get your cargo line: the heavy checker.