Pricing
How to read an LTL quote (and spot the hidden fees)
The $200 quote becomes a $450 invoice. Here are the accessorials, surcharges and adjustments that carriers tack on — and how to head them off at booking.
LTL pricing is famously opaque. A $200 quote on a 4-pallet shipment can easily turn into a $450 invoice once the carrier finishes adding accessorials. Most of these fees are legitimate. They cover real costs. But they catch shippers off guard because the initial quote rarely surfaces them.
What's in the base rate
The base LTL rate is calculated from:
- Weight (in pounds)
- Freight class (NMFC, 50 to 500 — driven by density and stowability)
- Origin and destination ZIPs (lane)
- Number of pallets / handling units
Plug those into a carrier's rate tariff and you get a number. That number is the base. Then the accessorials start.
The accessorials that catch everyone
Fuel surcharge (FSC)
Almost universal. It's typically 25–40% of the base rate in 2026, indexed to the weekly U.S. diesel price. Some quotes show it separately; some bury it. Always confirm fuel is included.
Liftgate (pickup or delivery)
If you (or the consignee) don't have a loading dock, the carrier needs a truck with a hydraulic liftgate to bring the pallet from trailer-bed height down to ground level. $50–$150 per stop. If you book without it and the driver shows up at a residence with no dock, they'll either refuse the load (and bill you for a wasted trip) or charge the liftgate fee on the invoice.
Residential pickup or delivery
Anywhere that's zoned residential — even a small business operating out of a house — triggers this fee. $50–$150 per stop. Carriers determine residential status by ZIP + address validation; if you mark it commercial and they reclassify it later, the fee gets added to the invoice.
Limited access locations
Schools, hospitals, government buildings, construction sites, military bases, airports, prisons, churches, mini-storage. $60–$250 per stop. These take more time for the driver and often require pre-clearance.
Inside pickup / inside delivery
Driver moves the freight past the dock door — into a hallway, an office, a storefront. $50–$200. Most LTL carriers will refuse to do this without it being booked in advance.
Reclassification
The big one. Carriers reweigh and remeasure every pallet at the terminal. If your booked class was 70 (densely packed engine parts) but you actually shipped class 175 (a half-empty crate of foam), the carrier reclassifies and rebills. The new rate plus a reclassification fee ($25–$75) hits your invoice 1–4 weeks after the shipment closes.
Defense: always calculate density (weight ÷ cubic feet) before quoting. Density determines class. Most carriers publish their density-to-class tables.
Detention / driver waiting time
Carriers allow 30 minutes for loading or unloading. After that, $50–$100 per hour of driver waiting time. If your dock is slow, factor this in.
Reconsignment / address change
Need to change the delivery address after pickup? $50–$200 plus any rerouting cost.
Storage / detention of freight
If the consignee can't accept the shipment when it arrives at the destination terminal, carriers store it for $15–$50 per pallet per day after a 24-hour grace period.
The honest math
A typical 4-pallet, 1,200-lb shipment LA → Dallas, NMFC class 70:
| Line item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Base rate | $180 |
| Fuel surcharge (32%) | $58 |
| Residential delivery | $95 |
| Liftgate delivery | $85 |
| Reclassification (class 70 → 92) | $45 |
| Final invoice | $463 |
The shipper's “quote” said $180. The invoice said $463. Nothing was wrong on the carrier's side — everything was on the rate sheet. It just wasn't surfaced at booking.
How to never get surprised again
- Always book accessorials upfront. Liftgate? Residential? Inside delivery? Check the boxes at quote time.
- Calculate density correctly.Don't guess at class. Use a density calculator and pick the right class the first time.
- Verify the consignee's dock situation.Call them if you don't know. Asking up front costs $0; finding out at delivery costs $100.
- Read the full quote, not just the headline number. Good platforms surface every potential accessorial. Bad ones bury them in fine print.
- Set a reweigh expectation. Build a 5–10% cushion in your shipping budget for reclassification. It will happen.
What we surface upfront
Every LTL quote we run shows the full breakdown — base rate, fuel, every accessorial selected, and the all-in total — before you book. The number on the screen is the number on the invoice, unless you change something at pickup. Try it on a real shipment and see for yourself.