Freight Glossary
Accessorial Charges
Accessorial charges are fees added to a freight invoice for services beyond standard pickup and delivery, such as liftgate use, inside delivery, residential delivery, redelivery, or extended wait time. They are charged separately from the base rate. A common example is a $75 liftgate fee added to a delivery at a location without a loading dock.
Why it matters
Accessorials are one of the most common sources of freight invoice surprises. They can collectively add 15 to 40 percent to expected shipping costs and are difficult to predict without deep knowledge of each carrier's fee schedule. For shippers running 200+ LTL shipments per month, accessorial overcharges can represent $10,000 or more in avoidable spend annually.
When to use it
Review accessorial exposure before tendering any shipment that involves non-standard conditions, such as unusual delivery locations, equipment needs, or service requirements not covered by the base rate. If you regularly deliver to restaurants, boutiques, or other locations without docks, build liftgate and inside delivery fees into your cost model upfront.
How Warp thinks about it
Warp operates on all-inclusive per-pallet pricing with no accessorial add-ons. What you see in the quote is what you pay, with no surprise line items after delivery. Our AI backbone, Orbit, generates quotes that already account for delivery conditions, so there is nothing hidden on the invoice.