It’s not just you—more freight carriers are increasing rebills and adding freight accessorial charges. These accessorial charges and post-shipment rebills or billing adjustments can make it challenging to manage shipping costs and your business operations.

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We hear you, which is why we want to introduce you to Mothership’s new AI assistant—our latest way to help you get accurate and transparent quotes, avoid surprise costs and junk fees, and reduce the likelihood of rebills, billing adjustments or shipping delays.

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Mothership’s AI assistant finds the most reliable and quick shipping for your freight. It instantly analyzes crucial information you provide during quoting, such as your pickup and delivery locations, freight lanes and more, to find the best rate for your freight and any potential discounts—all for free! The best part is that all of this happens in under 60 seconds, without requiring a minimum shipping volume, frequency or contract.

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You can try the AI assistant with your next freight quote on Mothership. Mothership uses AI to automatically suggest relevant delivery accessorials for a more accurate shipping rate, identify more precise pickup and delivery locations to help our top carriers move your goods, and apply discounted tariffs and complimentary services, like free liftgate or pallet-jack services when needed.

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With Mothership’s AI assistant, you can save hundreds of dollars on every shipment. The average freight accessorial charge is about $60, but some carriers could add $526 or more in rebills for a single shipment.

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Since we launched the AI assistant, tens of thousands of shippers on Mothership have already saved more than $1 million in avoided post-shipment rebills, billing adjustments, accessorial charges and missed discounts.

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What is Mothership’s AI assistant?

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Mothership’s AI assistant helps shippers avoid costly freight accessorial charges, rebills and post-shipment billing adjustments. It helps businesses receive more up-to-date and transparent rates for less-than-truckload freight and same-day delivery in the U.S.

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How does Mothership’s AI work?

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Mothership uses AI to analyze and complete freight shipment details, including pickup and delivery locations, freight lanes and other information during quoting. The AI assistant then identifies, suggests and applies the necessary accessorial charges and potential discounts so that shippers can get the best rate to ship their freight with Mothership.

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Any shipper can use the AI assistant for free on Mothership’s marketplace and exclusive shipping API. Mothership’s AI is available to all shippers—no matter how much is being shipped, how often or on which freight lane.

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How can I trust Mothership’s AI?

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Mothership provides its AI assistant directly to all shippers. It is not provided by a third-party or external technology partner. Mothership used the latest, best-in-class technology and its industry-leading experience to build the AI assistant.

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Mothership’s automatic AI-powered analysis and suggestions are based on hundreds of thousands of freight shipments across more than 50,000 freight lanes in the U.S., along with the accessorial charges and rebill activity from 14 leading national less-than-truckload carriers. The AI assistant is one of the most authoritative and comprehensive assistants and proprietary technologies available to shippers in the industry.

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What is a freight accessorial charge?

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A typical freight shipment rate covers basic dock-to-dock pickup and delivery. It does not include any additional services, equipment or special handling. Freight carriers add a freight accessorial charge or a shipping accessorial when a shipment requires more than just simple transportation of goods.

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Freight accessorial charges can be costly and may even be more expensive than the initial freight tariff. According to Mothership’s analysis of 14 leading national less-than-truckload carriers in the U.S., the average freight accessorial charge is $66 at discounted or pre-negotiated shipping rates, but it can be as high as $526 or more when rebilled after the shipment.

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Who pays freight accessorial charges?

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Shippers pay freight accessorial charges. Freight carriers add these charges to the invoice and rebill their customers after the shipment for any additional services, equipment, special handling or billing discrepancies.

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Freight carriers sometimes tack on administrative or billing fees, or use non-discounted accessorial tariff rates when they rebill shippers. The billing adjustments may sometimes be weeks or months after the shipment.

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What are the most common freight accessorial charges?

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Accessorial charges are often included in the final bill when a shipment requires more space or services than initially described at quoting. The most common accessorials involve imprecise shipment dimensions or weight, unreliable bills of lading, or incorrect pickup or delivery locations.

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Some standard freight accessorial charges include:

• Oversize or overlength pallet
• Overweight pallet
• Additional pallet
• Pickup or delivery address change
• Delivery appointment needed
• Use of a container freight station, or a facility where cargo is consolidated and unconsolidated for shipment, such as an airport or warehouse
• Delivery to a residence or a limited-access area, often non-shipping facilities like construction sites, government buildings or storage facilities
• Pickup or delivery to a trade show, convention or expo hall
• Truck order not used, or when freight is not ready for pickup
• Wait time at delivery to unload the freight
• Liftgate service
• Tolls

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How to avoid paying freight accessorial charges

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The best way to avoid freight accessorial charges or rebills is to provide detailed and thorough information when getting a freight quote. 

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By providing complete and exact dimensions, sizes and weights for your goods, the complete pickup or delivery address or location, National Motor Freight Classification or NMFC number, and commodity description, you can get the most accurate quote before you decide to ship and create the most precise bill of lading so that your freight can get on its way.

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It may also be more cost-effective to avoid freight brokers. They may not have the most competitive rates because they may work with a small group of carriers and might add expensive markups or pricey commissions that increase your final shipping cost.

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Many savvy shippers work with a trusted freight marketplace, such as Mothership, which connects freight with the nearest and well-vetted carrier to get your cargo where it needs to go faster, more reliably and at the best rates available.

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Mothership also provides some additional services that many carriers or providers consider accessorial charges—for free. For example, alcohol shipments, delivery to limited-access areas, liftgate service and pallet-jack service are offered at no cost with Mothership’s direct same-day shipments, which can result in immediate savings of hundreds of dollars on every shipment.

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The bottom line

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Mothership’s AI assistant analyzes the information you put in during quoting and makes smart suggestions and revisions so that you can get the best rate for your freight.  It helps you book more accurate shipments so your goods arrive faster and on time, and you have the confidence that you are paying the right price without any surprise costs or junk fees. 

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Mothership’s AI reduces the likelihood of rebills or billing adjustments from freight carriers, which can help you manage operational costs and keep shipping costs low.