Get to know the vital terms of Logistics and Supply Chain Management.
Accessorial fees are additional costs charged on your shipping bill for services other than transportation. Consider ordering a pizza and then having to pay extra to have it sliced; such additional charges are examples of accessorial fees. These fees cover services such as loading and unloading, special equipment, residential deliveries, and so forth.
Who Charges Accessorial Fees?
Carriers are the ones who charge these fees, they are the firms that agree to transport your shipments from one location to the other. Regardless of whether it is a global shipping company or a regional freight forwarder, they all have their list of accessorial charges.
Why do Accessorial Fees Matter?
These fees can prove quite expensive to your shipping expenses if not well managed. Reading this post, you will understand what accessorial fees are and how they are estimated to prevent receiving an unpleasant surprise on the bill. Many of these added costs are avoidable if a shipper understands carrier tariffs and proactively plans his or her shipment to minimize added fees.
Common Accessorial Fees
Here are some of the most common accessorial fees you might encounter:
Residential Delivery: An additional fee is determined when the order is to be sent to a residential address rather than an office.
Liftgate Service: A charge for delivery of goods when a liftgate is required to load or unload a large shipment as the recipient may not have one.
Inside Delivery: Another charge for the delivery of freight to a specific point within a building and not just at the doorstep.
Detention: Fees that are weighed when a carrier has to spend a predetermined amount of time waiting for the cargo to be loaded or unloaded.
Fuel Surcharge: A surcharge that varies with the current market price of fuel to allow the carrier to recover the fuel cost in transportation.
How to Manage Accessorial Fees?
To prevent such additional expenses, one should check the carrier’s tariff schedule and discuss any possible charges with the carrier in advance. If you know which services might attract extra charges, you will be in a position to manage the charges and express your needs before they inconvenience you when it comes to shipping.
All in all, it can be concluded that accessorial fees are an inevitable and expected part of shipping and that it is possible to avoid them if managed well before shipping.
