What is accessorial?
Also called accessorial charges, extras
An accessorial is any charge for work beyond moving the freight from origin to destination. Detention, layover, driver-assisted unloading, extra stops and tarping are all accessorials.
The linehaul rate pays for the transport itself. Everything else the driver does, or is made to wait through, is billed separately as an accessorial. Each has its own rate, and those rates belong in the rate confirmation before the truck moves.
Common accessorials include detention, layover, a truck ordered and then not used, extra pickup or delivery stops, driver-assisted loading, tarping on flatbed freight, and lumper fees paid at the dock.
What it means on a dispatch desk
Accessorials are where a mediocre lane becomes a decent one, and where a decent one quietly becomes a loss. They are also the part of the rate confirmation people skim. A desk that reads the accessorial schedule before accepting, and bills every one it earns, collects several per cent more revenue on identical freight than a desk that only bills linehaul.
Related terms
- DetentionDetention is money owed to a carrier when a shipper or receiver holds the truck beyond the free time agreed for loading or unloading, usually two hours. It is billed by the hour after that window closes.
- LayoverA layover is an overnight delay where a driver has to wait until the next day to load or unload, and is paid a flat daily rate for it rather than an hourly detention rate.
- Lumper feeA lumper fee is money paid to third-party workers at a warehouse who load or unload the trailer, rather than the driver doing it. It is common at grocery and food distribution centres.
- TONUTONU stands for truck ordered not used. It is a flat fee paid when a carrier has been dispatched to a load that is then cancelled, compensating for the trip made and the capacity committed.
- Rate confirmationA rate confirmation is the document that sets the agreed price and terms for one specific load, issued by the broker and signed by the carrier before the truck moves. It governs that load only.
Knowing the term is the easy half
Knowing which carriers are worth calling this morning is the hard half.
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