Accessorial Charges
Fees for services beyond basic dock-to-dock linehaul — detention, liftgate, lumper, residential delivery, redelivery — added to a freight invoice on top of the base rate.
How it works — and why it matters
Common accessorials include detention (waiting beyond free time), driver assist and lumper fees (loading/unloading labor), liftgate service, limited-access or residential delivery, storage, and redelivery after a failed appointment. Each is typically defined, with rates and free-time thresholds, in the contract or the carrier's rules tariff.
Accessorials are where freight invoices get disputed, because many hinge on facts both parties experienced differently — when the truck actually arrived, how long it actually waited. Timestamped geofence events and clean documentation turn those arguments into lookups, which is why automated arrival/departure capture pays for itself in accessorial recovery alone.