Definition
Accessorial charges are fees a trucking carrier adds for services beyond moving freight from one dock to another. The common ones on LTL are liftgate, residential pickup or delivery, limited access, inside delivery, delivery appointment and notification. Each is a separate line on the carrier's invoice.
- 01Freight movedock to dock
- 02Liftgateits own invoice line
- 03Residential deliveryits own invoice line
- 04Delivery appointmentits own invoice line
- 05Inside deliveryits own invoice line
Why it matters
Accessorials are one of the two usual reasons an LTL invoice does not match its quote; freight class is the other. If the quote assumed a dock and the driver needs a liftgate at a strip-mall storefront, the carrier adds the fee after the fact. The fix is to capture what the customer actually wrote about each location before rating.
The accessorials that come up most
Liftgate applies when a location has no dock and the freight must be lowered to the ground. Residential applies to homes and home businesses. Limited access covers sites that are slow or awkward for a tractor-trailer, such as schools, construction sites, military bases and storage units. Inside delivery means the driver brings freight past the threshold. Appointment and notify-before-delivery cover receivers who will not take freight unannounced. Reweigh and reclass fees follow an inspection that changes the weight or class.
Pickup and delivery are priced separately
A liftgate at pickup and a liftgate at delivery are two different charges, and most rating systems code them separately. A quote that says only "liftgate" has to be resolved to one end or both before it can be rated correctly.
How to handle them on a quote
Quote what the customer stated and say what was assumed. Asking every customer whether they need a liftgate slows the reply and annoys the ones who ship dock to dock every week. A workable rule is to add an accessorial when the email names it, default delivery appointments on, print any special instruction in the bill of lading remarks, and state the assumptions in the quote so a correction happens before pickup instead of on the invoice.
An accessorial missed at quote time comes back as an invoice dispute. TIO's quote agent reads the services a customer names for each stop, rates them, and prints them on the bill of lading.
Learn more →Frequently asked questions
What is a liftgate fee?
A charge for using the hydraulic platform on the back of the truck to lower freight to the ground where there is no loading dock. It is charged per stop, so a shipment needing it at both ends pays twice.
What counts as limited access delivery?
Locations that are not open to regular truck traffic or take extra time: schools, churches, farms, construction sites, military bases, prisons, storage facilities and some retail centers. Each carrier keeps its own list.
Can accessorial charges be added after delivery?
Yes. If the driver had to provide a service that was not on the bill of lading, the carrier adds it to the invoice. The charge is normally passed through to whoever requested the shipment.