Accessorial Charges in Trucking: The Common Ones and the Record Behind Each

What are accessorial charges in trucking?

Accessorial charges are fees a motor carrier bills for services or delays that go beyond the basic move from pickup to delivery, usually listed as their own lines on the freight invoice. The base rate, the linehaul, pays for the miles.

ArcBest, a freight and logistics company, defines accessorials as “additional services that go beyond standard dock-to-dock transportation.” The federal freight-bill rule does not use the word. 49 CFR 373.103 requires the freight bill of a for-hire, non-exempt motor carrier of property to contain “Total charges due, including the nature and amount of any charges for special service and the points at which such service was rendered.” catuh reads accessorials as falling under that phrase.

That regulation says what the bill must disclose, not what a carrier may charge. The amount, the trigger and the proof come from the rate con, the load tender, the broker-carrier agreement or the carrier’s rules tariff.

Which accessorial charges are most common?

Common truckload accessorials are detention, layover, stop-offs, driver assist, truck order not used (TONU) and lumper fees; LTL adds liftgate, residential, limited access and inside delivery. The first four and the LTL group are on ArcBest’s list of common charges. TONU appears in the J.B. Hunt and Uber Freight schedules cited below, and lumper reimbursement in Uber Freight’s. ArcBest says LTL charges are “typically tied to location type, handling needs or shipment characteristics.”

The third column is catuh’s suggestion, not a requirement of any regulation or payer. Only the detention and lumper rows follow a cited policy, Uber Freight’s. The rest is operational judgment about what would show the service happened.

Fuel surcharge is sometimes grouped with accessorials. Neither ArcBest’s list nor J.B. Hunt’s schedule includes it.

How much do accessorial charges cost?

There is no standard accessorial rate: each amount is whatever the payer’s tender, rate con or tariff says, and published schedules differ from one company to the next, so a figure from one payer cannot be assumed for another.

J.B. Hunt publishes standard accessorial rates for carriers that book its loads through Carrier 360. The terms below are J.B. Hunt’s alone, from a page dated December 11, 2020 and still showing them when read on October 5, 2026. They are not a market rate.

Each pair of figures separates how the event was captured: detention and layover pay more with automated updates than with manual recording, and TONU pays more with location services on. The page also tells carriers to “check your load tender to see accessorial rates every time you book,” so the rate for a load is the one on its tender.

Who pays accessorial charges?

The party that hired the carrier pays: the broker on a brokered load, the shipper on a direct one, under the terms of the contract the carrier signed. The facility that caused the delay or required the service may be neither of them.

Loading and unloading labor has a federal rule on who bears the cost. 49 U.S.C. 14103 says that when a shipper or receiver requires a carrier to be assisted in loading or unloading, it “shall be responsible for providing such assistance or shall compensate the owner or operator for all costs associated with securing and compensating the person or persons providing such assistance.”

For a leased owner-operator, the answer is in the lease. 49 CFR 376.12 requires the lease to “clearly specify the responsibility of each party with respect to the cost of fuel, fuel taxes, empty mileage, permits of all types, tolls, ferries, detention and accessorial services.”

How do you bill an accessorial charge so it gets paid?

Bill each accessorial as a separate line that matches a written term, and attach the record that was made when the event happened, because the payer checks the line against both.

1. Get the term in writing before dispatch. The rate con or tender names the accessorial, the rate, the free time or trigger, and any cap.
2. Capture the event when it occurs. Arrival and departure times, the lumper’s receipt, the cancellation message. Uber Freight’s carrier policy says “Signed BOLs with in/out times are required for all completed loads.”
3. Notify the payer inside its window. The same policy says lumper receipts and detention requests must be submitted within 24 hours of delivery.
4. Get a revised rate con when the load changes. An added stop or a new destination belongs on it.
5. Invoice each charge on its own line. State what the service was, the amount, and the stop where it happened, which is what 49 CFR 373.103 asks of a freight bill. Keeping accessorial lines separate from the linehaul lets the payer match each one to its record.
6. Attach the proof to the invoice. Rate con, signed BOL, and the receipt or time record for each line.

How long do you have to bill or dispute an accessorial?

Federal law sets a 180-day limit for a carrier’s later bill of added charges and for a shipper’s dispute, and a payer’s terms can be far shorter. 49 U.S.C. 13710 says a carrier “must issue any bill for charges in addition to those originally billed within 180 days of the receipt of the original bill in order to have the right to collect such charges.” A shipper “must contest the original bill or subsequent bill within 180 days of receipt of the bill in order to have the right to contest such charges.”

The carrier’s limit covers a rebill, not the first invoice: the section sets no deadline for the original bill.

A contract can waive those terms. Under 49 U.S.C. 14101, a shipper and carrier may “in writing, expressly waive any or all rights and remedies under this part for the transportation covered by the contract.” This article reads the text of the two sections only. It does not cover how courts have applied them, how they apply to a broker, or what a specific agreement waives.

Brokers hold part of the record. 49 CFR 371.3 requires a broker to record “the amount of any freight charges collected by the broker and the date of payment to the carrier,” to keep those records for three years, and it gives each party to a brokered transaction “the right to review the record of the transaction.”

When an accessorial charge does not apply

The first condition below is general; the rest come from Uber Freight’s published carrier policy, which covers non-hazmat loads tendered by the Uber Freight brokerage.

• The term is not in the contract. With no written rate for the accessorial, there is no agreed amount to invoice against.
• The carrier was late or out of spec. Uber Freight’s policy says carriers “must arrive on time to the stated appointment with a clean, odorless trailer that is compliant with all equipment requirements for the load.”
• The service was not authorized. The same policy: “If the rate confirmation notes state that lumper services are not allowed at a facility, the reimbursement request will be denied.”
• Two charges cover the same hours. Uber Freight’s policy says carriers are “not eligible for both detention and layover at the same stop, covering the same time period.”
• The request missed the window. A lumper receipt sent after that policy’s deadline does not qualify for reimbursement.

Those four are Uber Freight’s terms. Another payer’s can differ.