Accessorial charges are the extra LTL fees carriers add for anything beyond a standard dock-to-dock pickup and delivery — liftgate, residential, limited access, inside delivery, reweighs, detention, and more. Tick the services that apply to your shipment to see an estimated total surcharge range before the invoice arrives.
Carriers bill roughly $50–$90 per hour after the free loading/unloading window (usually 2 hours).
Estimate only. Accessorial fees vary by carrier, region, contract, and shipment size. Use this as a planning range, not a binding quote.
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An accessorial charge is any fee an LTL carrier adds on top of the base line-haul and fuel surcharge for a service outside a standard dock-to-dock move. The base rate assumes a forklift-equipped commercial dock at both ends, no appointment, and no special handling. The moment a shipment needs a liftgate, a residential address, an inside drop, or a reweigh, the carrier bills an accessorial — and these are the fees that most often surprise shippers on the invoice.
Most accessorial surprises come from under-declaring at booking. If you know the delivery is residential or needs a liftgate, put it on the BOL and in the quote request — carriers charge more to add it after the fact, and an undeclared service can trigger a reclassification or redelivery on top of the missed fee. Weigh and measure accurately to avoid reweigh and reclassification charges, and confirm the receiver's free-time window to sidestep detention. When you do get billed for something you didn't authorize, the carrier must show proof (a driver note, a weight ticket); if they can't, it's disputable.
It's a fee a carrier adds for any service beyond a standard commercial dock-to-dock move — liftgate, residential delivery, inside delivery, limited access, reweighs, detention, and similar. The base LTL rate covers only the line haul and fuel; everything else is an accessorial.
Most LTL carriers charge roughly $40–$160 for a liftgate, billed per end. A shipment that needs a liftgate at both pickup and delivery can carry two separate liftgate charges.
Carriers classify any address that looks non-commercial — including home-based businesses — as residential, and they verify addresses against databases. If your commercial address gets flagged, ask the carrier to reclassify it; declaring the correct type at booking avoids the charge.
Yes. Carriers must be able to document an accessorial — a driver's note, a weight ticket, or a delivery receipt. If they can't prove the service was required and provided, the charge is disputable. Compare the invoice line items to what you authorized on the BOL.
Often, yes — especially if you ship volume. Many shippers negotiate capped or discounted accessorial schedules in their carrier contracts. Knowing the standard ranges (above) is the starting point for that conversation.