What Are Accessorial Charges?
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Talk to our experts- Accessorial charges
- Accessorial charges are fees a freight carrier bills on top of the base freight rate for services or conditions beyond a standard pickup and delivery, such as liftgate service, residential or inside delivery, detention while the driver waits, redelivery or a reweigh.
Also called: Accessorials, accessorial fees
How it works
Accessorial charges are priced separately from the line-haul rate, which the Federal Highway Administration defines as the movement of freight over the road or rail from origin terminal to destination terminal. Anything the carrier does beyond that standard move, such as extra equipment, labor or waiting time, can carry its own fee.
Federal shipping rules use the term too:
- Total shipment cost. Federal agencies arranging freight are told to consider all costs associated with the shipment, including accessorial charges, surcharges and customs fees.
- Bid evaluation. Federal contracting officers compare the lowest available freight rates together with related accessorial and incidental charges.
Common accessorial charges
One LTL carrier, Old Dominion, says accessorial charges are common in less-than-truckload shipping and publishes all of its own in its ODFL 100 tariff. Its list of common ones includes:
- Liftgate service, for locations without a dock. It says the service must be requested in advance, because not all trucks have one.
- Residential or non-commercial delivery, such as to homes and schools.
- Detention, when a driver is held longer than the standard allowed time.
- Inside delivery, when freight goes beyond the dock or threshold.
- Redelivery, when a shipment can't be received on the first attempt.
- Oversized, overweight or reweighed freight.
The carrier notes that some of these, like detention, reweighs and redelivery, are only triggered once the driver is on site, so they can be added after the shipment is completed. Unloading help can also come from lumpers, which FHWA's freight glossary defines as individuals who assist a motor carrier owner operator in unloading property.
Example
A distributor quotes a dealer a flat $450 for freight on a two-pallet LTL order. The carrier's base rate is an illustrative $400, the dealer has no dock, and the address is residential. With an illustrative $75 liftgate fee and $90 residential fee, the freight bill is $400 + $75 + $90 = $565.
The distributor absorbs $565 - $450 = $115. Capturing liftgate and residential delivery when the order is placed would have priced them into the quote.
On Shopify
Shopify says the rate your customer pays at checkout and the price you pay for a shipping label are calculated separately, so they don't always match. For UPS in the United States, Shopify notes that demand surcharges and additional handling surcharges apply when you buy a label but aren't included in checkout rates, and suggests adding a handling fee to your UPS rates to cover the difference.
After a label is bought, a carrier can also charge a price adjustment. Shopify's listed reasons include a weight or dimensions that don't match the label and a carrier fee for address correction. Adjustments display in the order's timeline and are charged or credited on your next bill.
How Uncap helps
Uncap's outdoor patio furniture page treats freight as configuration: truckload and LTL thresholds, liftgate and residential delivery, and white glove service where you offer it are configured as delivery options, not buried in a flat rate.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
What does accessorial mean in LTL?
In less-than-truckload (LTL) freight, an accessorial is a service beyond the standard pickup and delivery, billed as a separate charge on top of the base rate. Old Dominion, for one, publishes all of its accessorial charges in its ODFL 100 tariff.
Which is a common LTL accessorial charge?
Liftgate service is a common example. Old Dominion lists it first among common LTL accessorial charges and says liftgates load or unload shipments at locations without a dock. Residential delivery, detention, inside delivery, redelivery and reweighed freight are others it lists.
What is an accessorial charge in trucking?
An accessorial charge in trucking is a fee for work outside the standard line-haul move. Detention is a typical one: the Federal Highway Administration describes a detention fee as the carrier charges applied when carriers are retained beyond a specified loading or unloading time.
