What do Accessorials Impact?
Definition of an Accessorial
In the transportation industry, an accessorial refers to any additional service, documentation, or equipment required beyond standard freight pickup and delivery.
For carriers, accessorials are extra services that incur added operational costs. For 3PLs and shippers, they represent added charges passed down by carriers. These charges are outlined in carrier tariffs and added once the need for the service is confirmed.
Accessorials typically arise when shipments require extra handling, equipment, labor, or time beyond what’s included in the base transportation rate. While standard LTL (Less-than-Truckload) shipping includes point-to-point transport, accessorials account for specialized delivery needs and are a key cost component documented in carrier tariffs.
Importance of Understanding Accessorial Charges
Accessorial fees can significantly impact your shipping costs, efficiency, and overall operations. For carriers, shippers, and 3PLs, understanding these charges helps optimize logistics planning and avoid costly surprises.
Specifically, for carriers, understanding these special delivery needs upfront (e.g., equipment requirements) can help to optimize operations to prevent added time, or wasteful missed deliveries altogether.
Cost Control
Accessorial fees typically range from $25 to $500, with most falling between $50 and $100. These costs can add up quickly. By identifying potential accessorials in advance, businesses can budget more accurately and reduce unnecessary expenses.
Pricing Transparency and Contract Negotiation
Understanding accessorials enables shippers to obtain accurate quotes based on known service needs—minimizing mid-shipment changes and surprise charges.
Knowledge of common accessorials also improves contract negotiations. Businesses can seek flat rates or discounts on frequently used services, and ensure clear agreement terms that reduce disputes and enhance operational planning.
Improved Supply Chain Efficiency
Proactively identifying accessorial needs improves planning, reduces delays and re-deliveries, and helps avoid detention or handling fees. Proper documentation, scheduling, and warehouse coordination enable smoother delivery and faster turnaround.
Stronger Carrier Relationships
Clear communication around accessorials sets expectations and strengthens trust. It reduces billing disputes and supports long-term, reliable carrier partnerships.
Compliance and Avoiding Penalties
Some accessorials—like hazardous material handling—require strict regulatory compliance. Failing to plan for such needs can lead to fines or rejected shipments. Understanding these fees supports safety, compliance, and legal accountability.
Better Customer Service and Delivery Performance
When you minimize unexpected delays (e.g., reconsignments or liftgate issues), you deliver freight on time and avoid frustration. Streamlined deliveries improve customer experience and reliability.
Common Accessorial Fees in the LTL Industry
Understanding the different types of accessorials is essential, as they directly impact shipping costs and logistics efficiency. Clear communication about accessorials enables accurate quoting and helps avoid surprises.
Common Types of Accessorial Fees
- Liftgate Service: When a pickup or delivery location lacks a loading dock or forklift, carriers may need to use a liftgate on their truck to lower or raise freight to the ground.
- Inside Delivery: This fee applies when freight needs to be taken inside a building or to a specific room beyond standard curbside or loading dock delivery.
- Limited Access: Fees may apply for deliveries or pickups at over 60 different types of locations that are difficult to access. Examples include residential, military, golf courses, hospital, schools, airports and mines.
- Detention: Time is money in the industry. If a driver experiences delays during loading or unloading beyond the agreed-upon time frame, detention fees may be charged to compensate for the driver’s time.
- Re-Delivery: This fee is incurred when a delivery attempt fails due to recipient unavailability or incorrect address information, necessitating a second delivery attempt.
- Re-weigh/Reclassification Fees: Accuracy is key in LTL shipping. If the freight’s weight or classification differs from the declared values, carriers may charge for the adjustments needed to align billing with the actual shipment characteristics.
How Accessorial Charges Impact Shipping Costs
Accessorial charges can be hidden costs for many businesses, as they are often overlooked. These hidden costs can erode profit margins. Unanticipated fees can disrupt budget forecasts and lead to increased operational costs. Mismanagement can result in disputes, delays, and a poor shipping experience, negatively impacting customer relationships. Unforeseen fees can cause delays in shipment processing, hindering operational efficiency and scalability.
Several pain points contribute to the persistence of the hidden costs of accessorial fees for businesses. Some teams spend hours on data entry, increasing the risk of errors, inaccuracies, and delays. Without a centralized platform to access and analyze data, identifying key cost factors or shipment details becomes a daily challenge. Manual processes to identify and manage accessorial fees are often time-consuming and error-prone. Inaccurate costs can result in customer dissatisfaction, affecting long-term customer loyalty.
APIs’ Role with Accessorial Charges
Application Programming Interface (API) access to location data has transformed the logistics industry by delivering real-time, precise information about delivery addresses. Address validation and geocoding APIs help ensure accurate delivery locations, reducing the risk of failed deliveries and costly re-routing fees.Automating billing processes with location data APIs reduces billing errors, enhances revenue recognition, and strengthens financial performance.
API tools, such as Shiplify’s API, allow LTL industry stakeholders to identify location-based accessorial fees in advance. With this data, shippers, carriers, and 3PLs can align on potential extra charges, fostering transparency and eliminating costly surprises. Often, LTL shippers unknowingly send freight to locations unequipped to handle it, forcing carriers to return shipments to terminals for later redelivery, wasting time and money.
Shiplify’s API helps shippers, carriers, and 3PLs proactively identify accessorials—especially those related to delivery location—before the shipment is booked. With this insight, businesses can:
- Equip drivers with the right tools for delivery
- Prevent returns and redeliveries
- Ensure accurate quotes
- Reduce billing disputes
- Improve routing, margins, and customer satisfaction
Accessorial fees in the LTL shipping industry play a crucial role in overall cost management. Understanding these charges helps shippers make strategic decisions, negotiate better terms, and optimize their logistics processes. Accurately identifying common accessorial fees allows carriers to provide precise freight quotes, transparent invoicing, and a seamless shipping experience from origin to destination.
FAQs
- What is an accessorial fee in freight shipping?
- An accessorial fee is an extra charge applied by carriers for services beyond standard pick up and delivery, such as liftgate service or detention.
- An accessorial fee is an extra charge applied by carriers for services beyond standard pick up and delivery, such as liftgate service or detention.
- Why do carriers charge accessorial fees?
- Carriers charge accessorial fees to cover additional labor, equipment, or time required for non-standard freight handling.
- Carriers charge accessorial fees to cover additional labor, equipment, or time required for non-standard freight handling.
- What are the most common accessorial fees in LTL shipping?
- Common LTL accessorial fees include liftgate service, inside delivery, residential delivery, limited access locations, reclassification, reweighing, detention, & redelivery..
- Common LTL accessorial fees include liftgate service, inside delivery, residential delivery, limited access locations, reclassification, reweighing, detention, & redelivery..
- What role does technology (e.g., APIs) play in preventing unnecessary accessorial fees?
- API tools help identify location-based accessorial fees in advance so that carriers have all of the information and equipment to complete a delivery.
- API tools help identify location-based accessorial fees in advance so that carriers have all of the information and equipment to complete a delivery.
- How can carriers ensure accurate billing for accessorial charges?
- Carriers can ensure accurate billing for accessorial charges by using a partner to identify any accessorial charges in advance by utilizing location data.
- How can shippers and 3PLs improve visibility into potential accessorial fees before booking freight?
- Shippers and 3PLs can leverage API tools with location data built for LTL shipments in order to identify accessorial charges in advance of shipment confirmation.
- How do accessorial fees affect overall transportation costs and profit margins?
- Accessorial fees increase total shipping costs, potentially eroding profit margins if not accounted for in original shipment pricing confirmation.