Guide
Accessorial recovery, step by step
Accessorials are the extras on top of linehaul: waiting time, a second stop, a cancelled load, a receipt you paid. They are small each time and add up across a year. Most are lost because they were never billed, not because the broker said no.
The routine in one picture
An accessorial is an extra charge on top of the linehaul: detention, lumper, TONU, extra stop. Recovering one is a paperwork task, not a negotiation.
Steps 1 and 2 happen at the dock and cannot be rebuilt a month later. Step 3 puts the charge on its own invoice line with the proof in the same packet. Step 4 puts a date on the calendar so it does not die quietly.
| Charge | What it needs | Usual trap |
|---|---|---|
| Detention | Rate con terms, arrival and departure times, notice if required | Times not written down. See detention evidence. |
| Layover | Rate con layover wording, the message moving the appointment, gate times | Billed for hours already billed as detention |
| Lumper | Receipt, broker approval, rate con lumper clause | No approval before paying |
| TONU (truck ordered not used) | Rate con TONU clause, cancellation message with its time, proof the truck was dispatched | Cancellation by phone with no record |
| Stop-off or extra stop | Revised rate con or written approval, a signed BOL for each stop | Verbal yes from a dispatcher who left the company |
| Driver assist or unload | Rate con wording, receiver's request in writing | Not agreed in advance |
| Fuel surcharge difference | Rate con surcharge terms, invoice | Index week or region mismatch |
The routine
Get it approved before it happens
When a stop is added or a lumper is demanded, ask for approval in writing on the spot. A text counts for more than a memory.
Record it as it happens
Times, receipts, messages. Ask the driver to send them to the office the same day.
Bill it with the invoice
Put each accessorial on the invoice as its own line, with the proof attached. A later supplemental invoice is a second chance, not the plan.
Follow up once, in writing
If it is not paid with the linehaul, ask what is missing. Keep the reply.
Log the outcome
Paid, partly paid, denied, with the reason. After a few months you will know which brokers pay what.
After a denial
- Ask for the reason in writing. A reason is a to-do list: a missing time, a missing approval.
- If the reason is a missing document you can still get, get it and resubmit.
- If the reason is that the terms do not allow it, believe the terms and move on.
- Keep the tone factual. You may want that broker's freight next month.
When to stop
When the amount is smaller than the time it takes, or the contract's deadline has passed, or the evidence is not there. Write it off on purpose, and write down what would have made it payable, so it does not happen again.
We are not lawyers. Contracts differ and some set deadlines for billing extras. Read yours.
Questions
Should I bill every accessorial, even small ones?
If the proof is already in the packet, yes: it costs one line. If you must chase documents for a small amount, decide by a rule you write down, for example a minimum amount.
Can someone do this for me?
That is what revenue recovery and the back office service are for. You approve every claim before it is sent. The first audit is free.
Will billing extras hurt a broker relationship?
Billing what the rate con allows, with proof, is ordinary business. Disputing things the rate con does not allow is what strains relationships.
Related: detention pay, layover pay, TONU, lumper fees, accessorial billing calendar.
See what your last 20 loads show.
One short form. We reply by email with the next step, and a one-page report follows. Free, no obligation.
Mon-Fri, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (Raleigh, NC). Voicemail is answered the next business day.