What Are Accessorial Charges? Why Are They On A Cabinet Door Order?
Why are there accessorial charges on a cabinet door order? They are extra fees for services like using liftgates, storage, or redelivery.
At A Glance
Why Might Your Cabinet Door Order Have Extra Freight Charges?
Accessorial charges are extra fees for freight services beyond standard delivery. Common examples include power tailgate use, residential delivery, appointments, redelivery, and storage. Some start around $35, while others can cost hundreds of dollars. Since many depend on what happens during delivery, your cabinet door supplier may not know the final cost until you receive your order.
You received a cabinet door quote and noticed a line for accessorial charges. Or your quote may say these charges aren’t included. Either way, you probably have questions. What are accessorial charges? How much could they cost? When do they apply? These questions matter because unexpected freight costs can reduce your profit and make it harder to price a project accurately.
At Cutting Edge Doors & Woodworking in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, we manufacture and ship thousands of cabinet doors each month across Western Canada and into Ontario. Because we arrange and prepay freight on our shipped orders, we deal directly with freight companies and their billing processes. This gives us first-hand experience with accessorial charges, including when they appear, what causes them, and why they can be hard to predict.
By the end of this article, you will understand:
What Are Accessorial Charges On A Cabinet Door Order?
Accessorial charges are extra freight fees for services outside normal pickup, transportation, and delivery. Your regular freight charge covers moving your cabinet doors under the carrier’s standard delivery conditions. However, some deliveries require additional services. The carrier covers these services by adding an accessorial charge.
For example, your cabinet doors may arrive on a pallet. If you do not have a loading dock or forklift, the driver may need to use the truck’s power tailgate to lower the pallet. Since this falls outside standard delivery, the carrier can add a power tailgate charge.
The same applies to other services. Requesting a delivery appointment, asking the driver to carry your shipment inside, or requiring another delivery attempt can all result in extra charges.
How Much Do Accessorial Charges Cost?
Accessorial charges vary based on carrier, service provided, and, in some cases, shipment weight. Here are some common charges you may encounter. The prices shown below are our current starting costs:
| Accessorial Charge | Starting Cost | When It Applies |
|---|---|---|
| Call Before Delivery | $40.20+ | You request a call before delivery. |
| Carry-In Delivery | $71.70+ | The driver carries the shipment into the building. |
| Delivery By Appointment | $66.35+ | You request a specific delivery date and time. |
| Power Tailgate | $35.00+ | The driver uses the truck's liftgate to unload. |
| Re-Delivery | $104.70+ | The carrier must make a second trip to the delivery location. |
| Residential/Rural/Private Residence | $95.50+ | The destination falls under one of these classifications in the shipping company's records. |
| Storage | $48.70+ Per Day | The shipment remains at the depot for more than 24 hours. |
These are starting prices, not guaranteed costs. Some services, such as carry-in delivery, re-delivery, and storage fees, increase based on shipment weight. Storage charges increase for every day your shipment remains at the depot. In addition, some carriers charge different amounts for the same service.
Some services can also lead to more than one charge. For example, a call-before-delivery service provides an estimated delivery window. If you request a specific time during that call, the carrier may also add a delivery-by-appointment fee.
As a result, one shipment can have several accessorial charges.
Why And When Do Accessorial Charges Apply To Cabinet Door Orders?
Accessorial charges apply when the carrier provides an extra service or encounters delivery conditions outside its standard service.
Some charges are fairly easy to predict. If your address is a private residence, you should expect a residential delivery fee. Likewise, if you cannot unload a pallet from the truck, you should expect a power tailgate fee. However, other charges depend on what happens during delivery. For example, nobody may be available when the driver arrives. The carrier may then have to return the shipment to the depot, which could lead to re-delivery and storage fees.
Your location can also affect the charges. A carrier may classify an address as residential or rural based on its own delivery rules, even if you do not think of your location that way.
These variables make accessorial charges difficult to predict before your cabinet door order ships.
Why Are Accessorial Fees Hard To Predict?
Your supplier can usually determine the normal freight cost before shipping. Accessorial charges are different because they depend on what happens during delivery and what the driver records. For example, your supplier may not know whether the driver will need a power tailgate until the truck arrives. The same applies to access problems, missed deliveries, and other unexpected situations. For this reason, two similar cabinet door orders may have different accessorial charges. Your final cost depends on your location, unloading equipment, delivery requirements, and what happens when the shipment arrives.
At Cutting Edge, we see these fees because we arrange the freight and receive the carrier’s invoice. We rarely know if an accessorial charge will apply when your order leaves our facility. Instead, the carrier records the extra service during delivery and bills for it afterward.
Can You Avoid Accessorial Charges?
You cannot always avoid accessorial charges. However, planning can reduce the chance of paying for services you do not need.
Before your order ships:
- Confirm whether your address is commercial, residential, or rural.
- Make sure someone is available to receive the shipment.
- Have suitable unloading equipment available when possible.
- Avoid requesting delivery appointments unless you need one.
- Collect depot shipments quickly to avoid storage fees.
- Ask which charges commonly apply to your location.
Picking up your cabinet doors from a freight depot may also help you avoid some delivery charges. However, you will need a suitable vehicle and must collect the shipment before storage fees apply. Because of these trade-offs, the lowest base freight price is not always the lowest final delivery cost. Consider your location, unloading equipment, schedule, and delivery needs before choosing the best option.
Why Should You Ask Your Cabinet Door Supplier About Accessorial Charges?
Ask about your supplier’s policy before ordering because accessorial charges may not be included in the shipping price.
Start by asking five questions:
- Are accessorial charges included in my quote?
- Which charges could apply to my address?
- Who is responsible for paying them?
- Do you add a markup or administration fee?
- When will I receive the invoice?
These questions are especially important if a supplier offers free or included shipping. In many cases, “free shipping” only covers standard freight. Services such as residential delivery, power tailgate use, appointments, storage, or re-delivery may still cost extra.
For that reason, ask what free shipping includes before comparing cabinet door suppliers. A lower freight quote may not result in a lower final cost once accessorial fees are added.
How Does Cutting Edge Handle Accessorial Charges?
At Cutting Edge, we do not include accessorial charges in cabinet door quotes or order confirmations, and we do not cover them. This is because many of these fees are not known when your order ships. Rather than estimating these costs in advance, Cutting Edge prepays the freight bill and waits for the carrier’s final invoice. If the carrier bills an accessorial service, we invoice that charge separately after you receive your order.
This process does not eliminate accessorial charges or make them easier to predict. It allows the separate invoice to reflect the accessorial services the freight company actually billed.
Other cabinet door suppliers may handle these charges differently. Before ordering from any supplier, confirm what your shipping price covers, which costs remain your responsibility, and when additional charges may be billed.
Understand Accessorial Charges Before Your Cabinet Door Order Ships
Accessorial charges are extra carrier fees for services beyond standard freight delivery. They can result from power tailgate use, residential or rural locations, appointments, missed deliveries, storage, and other services. Some are predictable, while others only become known after you receive your order. Understanding how these charges work helps you budget more accurately and reduces the chance of a surprise invoice.
Unexpected costs and unclear communication can make it harder to keep your cabinet projects on schedule and protect your reputation. Your next step is to learn why Cutting Edge sends a separate invoice for accessorial charges after you receive your cabinet door order. At Cutting Edge Doors & Woodworking, we manufacture and ship cabinet doors from Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, and work directly with freight companies to arrange those shipments.
