Freight Accessorial Charges Explained: Detention, TONU, Lumper & More
The linehaul rate is only half the conversation. The fees that show up after a load is booked are where new brokers quietly lose money, or quietly protect their margin.
Quick Answer
Accessorial charges are fees for services or delays beyond the base linehaul rate, detention, TONU, layover, lumper, stop-off, and more. The golden rule for brokers: a charge only passes through when the agreements support it. Define rates, free time, notice, proof, and approval rules in writing before dispatch; recovery is never automatic.
Get the Rate-Con Templates - $39The first time a carrier hit me with a detention invoice I hadn't pre-approved with the shipper, I ate the charge out of my own margin. It was a $300 lesson in why accessorials belong in every rate conversation, not in an angry phone call three days later. Here is what each charge means, who pays it, and how to handle them so they never come out of your pocket.
What "Accessorial" Actually Means
An accessorial is any charge for a service or delay outside of standard pickup-to-delivery transportation. The base rate (the linehaul) pays the carrier to move freight from A to B. Accessorials cover everything else: waiting, extra stops, extra labor, canceled trips, and special equipment. They exist because a carrier's truck is a clock, and every hour it sits costs them money they expect to recover.
The Accessorials You'll See Most
| Charge | What It Covers | Typical 2026 Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Detention | Waiting past free time (usually 2 hrs) to load/unload | $50-$100/hr after free time |
| TONU | Truck Ordered Not Used; load canceled after dispatch | $150-$350 |
| Layover | Driver held overnight before loading/unloading | $150-$300/day |
| Lumper fee | Third-party labor to load/unload (common at grocery DCs) | $100-$500, reimbursed |
| Stop-off | Each additional pickup or delivery beyond the first | $50-$150/stop |
| Redelivery | Returning after a failed/refused delivery attempt | Varies by lane |
Amounts vary by region, commodity, and the agreement you set. Treat these as the ranges I see most often, not fixed law.
More Accessorials You'll Encounter
Beyond the daily ones, these show up often enough that you should recognize them on an invoice and know whether they belong on the rate confirmation:
| Charge | What It Covers | Typical 2026 Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel surcharge (FSC) | Adjusts the rate for fuel prices; usually per-mile, indexed to the DOE average | Varies with fuel index |
| Driver assist / unload | Driver helps hand-unload instead of a dock or lumper doing it | $50-$200 |
| Reconsignment / diversion | Shipper changes the delivery location after dispatch | $75-$250 + added miles |
| Liftgate | Truck needs a liftgate for no-dock pickup or delivery (common in LTL/final mile) | $50-$150 |
| Residential / limited access | Delivery to a home, school, or site without standard dock access | $50-$150 |
| Tarping (flatbed) | Covering and securing an open-deck load with tarps | $50-$150 |
| Hazmat | Premium for hazardous materials handling and endorsements | $100-$500+ |
| Pallet exchange | Driver swaps empty pallets for loaded ones at pickup/delivery | $5-$15/pallet |
Detention Timeline: How the Clock Actually Works
New brokers lose detention disputes because they can't reconstruct the timeline. Here is exactly how a typical detention claim plays out, and where the money is won or lost:
08:00 - Driver arrives, checks in at the guard shack (GPS + gate log timestamp)
08:00-10:00 - Free time runs (2 hours, per the rate confirmation)
10:00 - Detention clock starts
12:30 - Driver finally loaded and departs
Detained: 2.5 hours × $60/hr = $150 billable detention
Only collectible if arrival AND departure are documented. No timestamps = no claim.
Scripts: How to Handle the Conversation
Setting terms with the carrier (before dispatch)
"Rate con shows 2 hours free at each stop, detention at $60/hour after that with documented in and out times, and a $250 TONU if it cancels after you're dispatched. Send me your in/out times through the app and I'll get detention approved and paid."
Passing detention to the shipper
"The carrier was held 2.5 hours past the 2-hour free window at your dock. Here are the timestamped arrival and departure records. Per our agreement that's $150 in detention I need to add to this load."
When a carrier bills an accessorial you didn't approve
"I want to pay you fairly, but I can only pass through what we agreed on the rate con and what I can document to the shipper. Send me the proof and let's get it approved the right way."
The Two You Must Understand Cold: Detention and TONU
Detentionis the one that comes up almost daily. Most facilities give two hours of free time to load or unload; after that, the clock starts and the carrier bills for the wait. The fight is never about whether detention exists, it's about proof. If the carrier can't show documented arrival and departure times (in-app GPS, signed bills, gate logs), the shipper will refuse the charge, and you're stuck in the middle. Require time documentation up front and you stay out of that trap.
TONUprotects the carrier when a shipper cancels after the truck is already rolling. It's reasonable, it's standard, and you should set the TONU amount in your rate confirmation before dispatch, not negotiate it after a cancellation when the carrier is already irritated.
The Pass-Through Rule That Protects Your Margin
Here is the core principle: a broker should never owe a carrier an accessorial the shipper won't approve. Accessorials are meant to pass through, the carrier bills you, you bill the shipper who caused the delay. The moment you approve a charge to a carrier without a matching approval (and documentation) from the shipper, you've converted a pass-through into a loss against your own margin. Every accessorial conversation should happen before the truck is committed, and live in writing on the rate confirmation.
Put these on every rate confirmation
- - Free time at pickup and delivery (e.g. 2 hours each)
- - Detention rate per hour and how it's documented
- - TONU amount and when it applies
- - Whether lumpers are reimbursed and how (receipt required)
- - Stop-off and layover rates
Make Accessorials a Trust-Builder, Not a Fight
Carriers remember brokers who pay legitimate accessorials quickly and fairly, and they remember the ones who dodge them. Shippers respect brokers who explain charges clearly with documentation instead of surprising them with a vague add-on. Handle accessorials transparently and you become the broker both sides want to keep working with, which is the entire game. Set the terms before the load, document everything during it, and the money takes care of itself.
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Get the Course for $39Frequently Asked Questions
What are accessorial charges in freight?
Accessorial charges are fees for services or delays beyond standard pickup-to-delivery transportation. Common examples include detention (waiting at a facility past free time), TONU (truck ordered not used), layover, lumper fees (paid to load/unload labor), stop-off charges, and redelivery. They compensate the carrier for time and work that the base linehaul rate does not cover.
What is a TONU charge?
TONU stands for Truck Ordered Not Used. It is a fee paid to a carrier when a load is canceled after the truck has already been dispatched or has arrived. TONU compensates the carrier for the lost trip and is commonly $150-$350 depending on the agreement, though it can be higher for long deadheads.
Who pays detention, the broker or the shipper?
The carrier bills detention to the broker, and the broker passes it through to the shipper who caused the delay. The key is documentation: the broker should only owe the carrier what the shipper will approve, so detention terms, free time, and proof of arrival/departure must be agreed in writing before the load moves.