Resources / Accurate Quotes
Nearly every LTL invoice that comes back higher than the quote traces to one thing: the shipment that moved wasn't the shipment that was quoted. Wrong weight, missing liftgate, a class guess. Here's every detail that moves an LTL rate — and how to get each one right the first time.
An LTL quote is a price for a described shipment. The carrier doesn't verify the description when you book — it verifies it at the dock, on the scale, and at the delivery address. Anything that doesn't match gets corrected on the freight bill at the carrier's full tariff rate: a reweigh or reclass, an accessorial nobody ordered. The fix isn't a better rate; it's a better description.
Lane is the foundation of the base rate, and it also decides which carriers serve the points directly and which hand off to a partner. Use the actual pickup and delivery ZIPs — not your corporate office, not the city center. Rural and remote ZIPs can carry their own surcharges or longer transit, and you want that on the quote, not discovered later.
This is the detail most often left off. Tell us, for both pickup and delivery:
Each of these is a modest line item when quoted and a full-tariff charge when discovered.
Weigh the shipment as it will ship: freight, packaging, and the pallet itself. A standard wood pallet adds roughly 30–50 lb on its own, and estimating from a product spec sheet misses the packaging. Carriers weigh freight as it crosses their terminals, and a heavier scale weight means a rebill.
Length × width × height for each pallet or crate, measured at the widest points — including overhang and anything sticking up. Dimensions do two jobs: they set density (which drives freight class), and they reveal shipments that need special handling, like anything over standard trailer-door height or longer than a standard pallet footprint. Many carriers now measure freight with dimensioners, so the numbers will get checked.
Class is driven largely by density — weight divided by cubic feet — though some commodities have their own classification. Use our density calculator to estimate class, and if you know your NMFC item, include it. If you don't, give us an honest commodity description; "machine parts" and "auto parts, plastic, boxed" can class very differently. Our NMFC 2025 guide covers how the density-based overhaul changed many items.
How many pallets, crates, or loose pieces — and whether they can be stacked. Non-stackable freight consumes the space above it, and carriers price for that. If your pallet can take weight on top, say so; if it can't, mark it and declare it. Shipments that take a lot of linear trailer space can also cross into volume or truckload territory, where a different quote is cheaper.
Any regulated hazardous material changes which carriers can take the load and how it must be documented. Give the UN number, hazard class, and packing group up front. Our hazmat basics guide covers what else is required.
When the freight will be ready and when each end can load or receive. Narrow windows may need an appointment, and freight that isn't ready when the driver arrives can trigger a dry-run or re-pickup charge.
LTL carrier liability is limited by tariff and is often well below the value of the goods. If the shipment is expensive, tell us at quote time so coverage can be arranged — our insurance vs. liability guide explains the gap.
FoxIQ Quote rates your request in minutes and flags anything unusual to a human before a number goes out, and FoxIQ Pickup screens each booking before dispatch for the mismatches that become rebills — a residential address without residential service, a site with no dock and no liftgate ordered. After delivery, FoxIQ Audit checks 100% of invoices against the quote, so when a charge doesn't belong, it's disputed before it reaches you.
Pickup and delivery ZIP codes, total weight including pallets, dimensions and count of each handling unit, freight class or commodity description, any accessorials at either end (liftgate, residential, limited access, appointment, inside delivery), whether the freight is stackable, hazmat details, ready date, and value if it's high.
Usually because the shipment didn't match the quote: the carrier reweighed or reclassed it, or added an accessorial such as liftgate or residential delivery that wasn't declared. Charges discovered after pickup are billed at the carrier's full tariff rate.
Yes. Carriers bill on the total weight they scale, which includes the pallet and all packaging. Leaving the pallet out is one of the most common causes of a reweigh charge.
It helps, but it isn't required. Accurate dimensions and weight let us calculate density, and a specific commodity description lets us identify the right NMFC item. A guessed class is riskier than no class.