Accessorial Charges and How To Get Past Them

Rich Harkey

November 17, 2011

There are a number of erroneous charges that can appear on your shipping invoice, the number one complaint of carriers being accessorial charges. But what exactly are they?  These charges are supplemental to transportation charges and calculated using a number of minuscule, but important variables including pick-up and delivery criteria.  There are many accessorial charges just for one package and they can make up a hefty portion of your shipping fees.  The good news is that you can actually reduce shipping costs because of these charges.  Why?  Because many of these charges, when validated, showcase mistakes the carrier made and end up as refunds coming back to you.

Best Practices Suggestion:

• In order to figure out these accessorial charges, you need to create a process to validate each and every accessorial charge.  Examples of these charges can range from a transportation charge to a fuel surcharge.  Make sure to know all the potential charges that carriers apply along with constantly monitoring what is appearing on your bill.

• If you are unable to effectively review all line items on your carriers’ invoices, an experienced freight and parcel auditing company like Lojistic can be of great assistance.

Rich Harkey is a results-driven professional with extensive experience in the logistics and supply chain industry.

As the Senior Strategy Manager at Lojistic, Rich leverages over three decades of expertise to help businesses improve their shipping strategies and reduce costs. With a deep understanding of the requirements of shippers and the operational intricacies of carriers, he excels in everything from optimizing business rules and managing carrier invoices to negotiating carrier contracts.

Rich's comprehensive knowledge of the logistics industry, combined with his strategic insights and passion for data analysis, has enabled thousands of companies to gain visibility into their shipping expenses, driving impactful results.