Accessorial Charges: A Broker's Guide to Billing Extras

Accessorial charges are the fees that pile up around a load beyond the base linehaul rate. Detention at a slow dock, a lumper fee at a grocery warehouse, a layover when an appointment slips, a truck-ordered-not-used when a load falls through. Individually they seem small. Across a month of freight, unbilled or disputed accessorials can quietly erase a meaningful share of a brokerage's margin.

The brokers who handle accessorials well are not luckier. They document the charges upfront, agree to them in writing, and bill them with the right backup. This guide covers the accessorials you will encounter most and how to make sure you actually get paid for them.

The Accessorials You Need to Know

These are the extra charges that show up most often in day-to-day freight.

• Detention when a driver waits beyond the free time allowed at a facility
• Lumper fees charged for loading or unloading labor, common at grocery and retail DCs
• Layover when a driver is held overnight because a pickup or delivery cannot happen as scheduled
• TONU, truck ordered not used, when a booked load is canceled after the carrier committed
• Redelivery and reconsignment when a load must be delivered again or rerouted
• Stop-off charges for additional pickups or drops beyond the first and last

Agree to Accessorials Before the Load Moves

The single biggest cause of accessorial disputes is that the terms were never written down. If detention pay, free time, and the lumper policy are spelled out on the rate confirmation, there is nothing to argue about later. Put the rate, the trigger, and the required documentation right on the rate con so both the carrier and the shipper know the rules in advance.

Get the Shipper's Buy-In Too

An accessorial you owe the carrier is only profitable if you can pass it through to the shipper. Confirm with the shipper how detention and lumpers will be handled before the load moves, so you are not stuck paying the carrier for a charge the shipper refuses.

Documentation Is Everything

Accessorials live or die on proof. A detention claim without timestamps is just a claim. Make documentation a standard part of the process.

• Detention needs arrival and departure times, ideally verified on the BOL or via tracking
• Lumper fees need a receipt showing the amount paid
• Layover needs a record of the missed appointment and the reason
• TONU needs evidence the carrier was dispatched and the load was canceled

Capture It in Real Time

Documentation collected days later is weaker and often incomplete. The strongest accessorial claims are built from records captured as the event happens: the check-in time, the signed BOL notation, the lumper receipt photographed on the spot.

Common Accessorial Mistakes That Cost Money

These recurring errors leave money on the table.

• Not billing detention at all because tracking the time is a hassle
• Vague rate con language that lets shippers dispute the charge
• Paying the carrier's accessorial without confirming the shipper will cover it
• Missing receipts for lumpers and other out-of-pocket costs
• Inconsistent charges that undercut your credibility with shippers

Turning Accessorials Into Reliable Revenue

Accessorials should be a normal, well-documented part of billing, not an afterthought you fight over. When every extra charge is agreed to upfront and backed by clean documentation, they become predictable revenue instead of a source of friction. The brokers who capture accessorials consistently protect margin that others simply give away.

A modern TMS like Haulan lets you define accessorial terms on the rate confirmation, attach receipts and delivery records to the load, and flow those charges straight onto the shipper invoice with the backup already in place. That means fewer missed charges, fewer disputes, and every legitimate accessorial actually collected. Handle the extras well, and you protect the margin the linehaul rate alone cannot.