Freight Accessorial Charges Explained: Detention, TONU, Lumper & More

The 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

Amounts vary by region, commodity, and the agreement you set. Treat these as the ranges I see most often, not fixed law.

The Two You Must Understand Cold: Detention and TONU

Detention is 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.

TONU protects 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.

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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