What accessorials are
An accessorial is any charge for service beyond standard dock-to-dock linehaul. Some are legitimate and unavoidable — the freight genuinely needs a liftgate. The expensive ones are the accessorials nobody declared at quote time, billed after the fact at full tariff rates. The golden rule of this entire page: a declared accessorial is a line item; an undeclared one is a penalty.
The equipment & location fees
- Liftgate (pickup or delivery). Required when a location has no dock or forklift; the trailer's hydraulic gate lowers freight to ground level. Avoid the surprise: confirm dock access at both ends before quoting.
- Residential. Deliveries to homes and home businesses — narrower streets, no docks, slower stops. Usually pairs with a liftgate fee. Tip: a business run from a house still counts as residential to the carrier.
- Limited access. Schools, churches, military bases, storage units, construction sites, farms — anywhere with gates, guards, or restricted entry. Tip: when in doubt, declare it; the fee is smaller than the rebill.
- Inside delivery. Any movement beyond the tailgate or threshold — into a suite, upstairs, past the front door. Tip: if the receiver can meet the driver at the door, you don't need it.
The scheduling fees
- Appointment / notify before delivery. The carrier must call ahead or book a delivery window. Common for distribution centers that fine no-shows.
- Detention. The driver waits beyond free loading/unloading time (often 15–30 minutes for LTL). Avoid it: have freight staged and paperwork ready before the truck arrives.
- Redelivery. Nobody could receive the freight, so the carrier returns another day — and bills for the second trip. Usually a failed-appointment or closed-dock story.
- Storage. Freight sits at the carrier's terminal awaiting delivery instructions after a failed delivery. The meter runs daily.
The measurement fees
- Reweigh & reclassification. The carrier's certified scale or dimensioner disagrees with your BOL, the invoice gets adjusted, and an inspection fee is added. The most common surprise charge in LTL — our freight class guide covers exactly how to prevent it.
- Overlength. Articles beyond a threshold length (commonly 8–12 feet, varies by carrier) trigger steep fees because they disrupt trailer loading. Tip: declare the longest article's true length at quote time.
- Cubic capacity / linear foot rules. Low-density freight that consumes disproportionate trailer space can be re-rated under carrier volume rules. If you ship light and bulky, volume pricing often beats LTL tariffs anyway.
How the Fox keeps these off your bill
Two layers. Before pickup, FoxIQ Pickup screens every booking for the signals that predict accessorial needs — a residential address, a school, a missing dock — and gets the right services on the order before dispatch. After delivery, FoxIQ Audit compares every invoice line against the quote, so an accessorial you didn't order and didn't receive gets caught and disputed, not paid.
