The Freight Doctor

Today I wanted to go over the “Limited Access” accessorial fee you may see on your freight quote. Limited Access ( or LTD Access for short ) refers to a location that is difficult for the truck driver to get to. Locations that fall under limited access would include: Amusement Parks, Construction Sites, Farms, Mines, Mini Storage, Places of Worship, Schools, Correctional Facilities and Military Bases.

Due to the inconvenience of getting freight in and out of these types of locations, which slows down the driver on their overall route, you will be charged a Limited Access accessorial fee on your freight quote. Depending on the freight broker or carrier you’re dealing with, you can expect to see a fee of anywhere from $50-$80. Again, as I say with any over priced accessorial charge,  if it’s any more than this, I would suggest at least attempting to negotiate this fee down.

As a continuing part on my series explaining accessorial charges, today I’ll go into Residential Pickup and Delivery Charges.

The reason for Residential Delivery and / or Pickup Charges for non commercial locations is due to the fact that there are a number of factors that impede a prompt delivery or pickup to the location. The reasons can vary from there being no loading docks or forklifts, the streets may be narrower and harder to negotiate in and out of for the truck driver and as general rule of thumb it’s simply just more difficult to pick up and drop off shipments in non commercial environments. Typically you can also expect a liftgate charge attached because there isn’t a loading dock for the driver to back into as discussed in my previous post.

You can expect fees for residential charges to range anywhere from about $50-$100 tacked onto your total freight quote or bill.

Once you’ve received your freight quote, you may see what are referred to as Accessorial Charges that are additional fees listed on the freight quote. In an effort to clarify your freight quote I will begin a series of posts that will explain what each of these fees mean and how they effect your delivery or pick up.

The Liftgate Charge is a fairly common accessorial fee. What is a liftgate? A liftgate is a hydraulic  accessorial device used to lower the pallet to from the end of the truck to the ground level.

Typically this is used for items leaving from or going to residential locations or those locations where there is no loading dock or there is no forklift available.

If you do not opt for a liftgate, the driver is only responsible for taking your shipment to the end of the truck and you must take care of gettig the pallet off of the truck.

You can expect to be charged anywhere from $50-$125 for the liftgate fee depending on your freight rate structure. If the liftgate accessorial charge is any higher than this, you shoud consider attempting to negotiate for a lower liftgate charge.

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