How 3PLs bill LTL and FTL freight on B2B orders
Why freight billing matters on a B2B order#
On a wholesale order, freight can be the largest line: in the illustrative order in B2B pick fees: each pick vs. case pick vs. pallet pick, LTL freight is $300 of $375. Freight can also arrive on a separate, later invoice and change after delivery.
LTL (less-than-truckload) puts your pallets on a trailer shared with other shippers; FTL (truckload) books the whole trailer. Many 3PL invoices label parcel postage "freight", so this article says "shipping (postage)" for parcels and "freight (LTL/FTL)" for pallets and trucks. It covers outbound B2B freight.
Who pays the freight: prepaid, collect, third-party and routed orders#
The freight terms on the bill of lading (BOL) say who gets the carrier's bill. In one LTL carrier's BOL guide, prepaid sends it to the shipper, collect to the consignee (the receiver), and third-party to a payer named on the BOL; that carrier's BOL defaults to prepaid, and another carrier bills prepaid when the BOL is silent1,2.
A retailer's routing guide can set the carrier and freight terms for its purchase orders (POs). The GS1 US routing-guide guideline (2016) makes freight terms a required field that can change by shipment size3; as of May 2026, Walmart has both collect and prepaid suppliers4.
On collect and will-call orders (the customer's carrier picks up at the dock), the freight is between your customer and its carrier. The 3PL's warehouse fees still apply, and one carrier's BOL terms keep the shipper liable, unless it signs a non-recourse clause, for collect charges the consignee doesn't pay, and for charges caused by wrong information it supplied2. On prepay and add, you pay the carrier and then bill your customer6.
FOB (free on board) is separate: a Uniform Commercial Code delivery term for who bears expense and risk to a point5. See Retailer routing guides and collect vs. prepaid freight.
How a 3PL bills freight you pay for#
Freight you pay for can reach you by five routes, and one account can mix them by customer, lane or shipment size; a retailer's consolidation program can instead charge a price per case4. Most ecommerce 3PLs book B2B freight on their own carrier or broker accounts and rebill it, at cost plus a margin or at their own lane rates or quotes; some brands use their own freight accounts.
| Route | Whose carrier account | How it's priced | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your own freight account (carrier or broker) | Yours | Your agreement; one 2016 contract still bills "LTL Shipment Scheduling: $7.00 per order"7 | That the 3PL uses your account, and what its fees cover |
| Pass-through | The 3PL's | The carrier's charge, with no margin; one 2005 contract lets "at cost" include third-party vendors' "administrative fees"8 | A matching carrier invoice or PRO-level detail |
| Cost plus a percentage | The 3PL's | Carrier cost × (1 + markup %); one 2008 contract: "Cost Plus 5%" on shipping and freight9 | Whether it covers fuel, accessorials and corrections |
| Cost plus a fee | The 3PL's | Carrier cost + a flat fee per shipment or request; the 2016 contract also prices freight quotes per request7 | What the fee covers, and that a BOL fee doesn't repeat it |
| The 3PL's own freight rates | The 3PL's | A lane rate table or a quote per shipment, with any margin inside10 | What's included and assumed, and whether corrections are added |
Lane rate tables vs. quotes per shipment#
One account can use both: a lane rate table for repeat shipments to the same distribution centers, and a quote for one-off freight. One 2015 transportation contract prices its published lanes as a discount off a base tariff, with minimums and FAK (freight all kinds) pricing that rates a range of classes as one. It bills fuel and accessorials on top, and charges a percentage fee on other lanes10. On one 3PL freight card we've reviewed, fuel was added to per-shipment LTL charges but built into its fixed pallet and truckload rates, so ask which lines carry fuel.
Carrier quotes can be estimates: one carrier's spot quotes are "not binding" and still take fuel and accessorials2. Get in writing what each rate or quote includes and assumes (pallets, weight, class, dimensions), how long it holds, who approves it before the 3PL tenders the shipment, and whether reweighs and delivery accessorials are added.
Markups and fees#
A 3PL is entitled to a margin on freight it books. The margin pays for real work: booking, carrier selection, exception handling, bill audit and claims; the 2015 contract lists bill audit as a standard service and carrier claims processing as a premium one10. On cost-plus, get the percentage or fee in writing; on the 3PL's own lane rates or quotes, judge the rates, not the margin inside them (Negotiating shipping markup and carrier discounts).
What's in an LTL or truckload charge#
A class-rated LTL charge is the carrier's rate per hundredweight (CWT, 100 pounds), set by freight class, weight and lane, times the weight, less the payer's discount, or a contract or FAK rate; one carrier also offers density-based rates by written agreement12,10,2. The carrier bills the greater of that discounted charge or the minimum; one carrier's tariff (effective Aug 17, 2026) sets an absolute minimum of $186 after discount between its continental U.S. direct service points2. In two LTL carriers' notices, increases apply to rates set under their tariffs16,17 (Carrier general rate increases (GRIs) and how they flow through).
On LTL, fuel is a percentage of the linehaul12. At one carrier it tracks the weekly U.S. on-highway diesel price and doesn't apply to accessorials2, and its class-based LTL fuel surcharge was 57.1% from Oct 7, 202613. Delivery accessorials, such as liftgate, inside delivery, residential, appointment, carrier detention (truck waiting time) and redelivery, are added on top (LTL accessorials: liftgate, inside delivery, appointment, residential).
The bill can change after pickup: one carrier's tariff corrects the BOL and freight bill when a shipment's weight or description is wrong2, and another says some accessorials, such as detention and redelivery, can be added after the shipment is completed14. According to one LTL carrier, items in NMFC Docket 2025-1 moved to density-based classes on July 19, 202515, so wrong pallet weights or dimensions can change the class (Freight classes (NMFC) and density-based pricing).
A truckload charge is linehaul per mile or per trip, plus fuel. One regional carrier bills truckload fuel per mile and adds charges per extra stop, detention, layover, truck ordered not used (TONU) and lumper reimbursement11. Under federal law, a shipper or receiver that requires a truck to be helped with unloading must provide the help or pay the truck's owner or operator for it18.
Warehouse charges that come with a freight order#
Warehouse charges for a freight order sit on the 3PL's rate card, apart from the freight, and can apply whoever pays the carrier, collect, routed and will-call orders included. They can include:
- a B2B order fee, which some 3PLs tier by shipment mode (parcel vs. LTL or routed freight);
- pallet picks, or case or each picks plus a pallet build;
- pallet build, pallet wrap and pallet supplies;
- a BOL fee, per BOL, or a manual BOL priced separately;
- other outbound documents (per document or order), carton labels, appointment scheduling, loading, and will-call staging per pickup.
A "pallet fee" can mean the physical pallet, pallet handling or pallet storage, so ask which. Pallet supplies appeared under nearly half of Implentio customers' 3PL contracts, mostly tied to B2B and wholesale shipments; BOL fees and outbound pallet wrap each appeared under about one in six. One SEC-filed contract bundles the pallet, shrink wrap, banding and BOL into one pallet fee7, so check the same work isn't also billed line by line (Pallet, shrink-wrap, corner board and stretch-film charges).
When freight charges arrive#
The carrier bills after pickup or delivery, so freight can arrive on a later or separate invoice (Separate invoices for fulfillment, storage, shipping and freight: tying them together), with accessorials and corrections later still2,14.
Most 3PLs pass carrier freight corrections (reweighs, reclasses, delivery accessorials) through on a later invoice, and credits should come back the same way. Whether they're marked up, and whether the 3PL absorbs a correction it caused, such as a wrong pallet weight, depends on your contract; many contracts don't say, so get it in writing.
Between a motor carrier and its payer, federal law gives the carrier 180 days from receipt of the original bill to bill more, and the shipper 180 days from receipt of a bill to contest it19. Your 3PL's invoice follows your contract's dispute window instead, usually counted from the invoice that bills the charge; windows can run from about a week to a few months (Dispute windows and what happens if you miss them).
Worked example: one wholesale LTL order, five ways (illustrative)#
The numbers are illustrative, not market rates: one three-pallet LTL order you pay for, with carrier cost held constant across routes (in practice, your own-account and the 3PL's carrier costs differ).
The carrier charges a $1,000 tariff charge less 60%, or $400 net linehaul (above the minimum), fuel at 50% of linehaul (one carrier's published LTL fuel surcharge was 57.1% from Oct 7, 202613) and a $200 liftgate, with no fuel on it.
$400 linehaul + $200 fuel + $200 liftgate = $800 carrier charge
The carrier then reweighs the shipment and net linehaul rises to $450, so fuel becomes $225 and the carrier charge $875 (+$75). The 15% markup applies to the whole carrier charge, and the 3PL's $850 quote includes fuel and the liftgate.
| Route | Before the reweigh | After the reweigh | Who bears the +$75 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your own freight account | $800, billed by the carrier | $875 | You, on the carrier's bill |
| Pass-through | $800 | $875 | You, if the contract passes later charges through |
| Cost plus 15% | $920 | $1,006.25 | You, $86.25 with the markup, if passed through |
| Cost plus a $35 fee | $835 | $910 | You, if the contract passes later charges through |
| The 3PL's quote | $850 | $850 if the quote is firm; $925 if it adds corrections | Depends on the quote terms |
The example leaves out reweigh fees, such as one carrier's $40.00 when charges rise $15.00 or more2. Here the warehouse lines are the same on every route, collect included unless the order fee is tiered for routed freight, at the pick-fees article's illustrative B2B rates (from a different order) and a $10 BOL fee from one published warehouse rate card20:
$10 B2B order fee + (3 × $25 pallet build with pallet and wrap) + $10 BOL fee = $95, plus picks
What good freight billing looks like#
Signs of good freight billing:
- The route is written for each customer or lane.
- Each freight line shows the PO, BOL or PRO number, pallets, weight, dimensions and, for LTL, class; one carrier's freight invoice carries the BOL and PO numbers from the BOL1.
- Carrier invoices back pass-through and cost-plus lines; a dated lane table or written quote backs the 3PL's rates.
- The contract says how corrections and credits reach you, and on which invoice.
- The rate card lists warehouse fees for collect, routed and will-call orders.
See the shipping section of the Contract review checklist.
Common mistakes and red flags#
Each of these can have a legitimate cause:
- Freight billed on a collect or routed order, unless you prepay and add, the routing guide switches small shipments to prepaid3, or the carrier billed the shipper under its BOL terms2.
- A freight line you can't match to a PO, BOL or PRO, unless several POs share one BOL and PRO, or a quote has its own reference.
- Freight above the quote, unless delivery accessorials, a reweigh or reclass, a fuel change or the quote's exclusions explain it; a red flag if the quote was written to include them or no carrier document backs it.
- On cost-plus, a markup on accessorials and corrections, unless the contract marks up all carrier charges, as the 2008 one does9; a red flag when it marks up base freight only.
- A booking or quote fee and a BOL fee for the same work, unless the contract gives each its own work; or pallet, wrap and BOL billed separately and inside a bundled pallet fee7.
- Carrier credits not passed back, unless the credit is still pending with the carrier.
- A standalone LTL rate on a consolidated retailer order. On one 3PL freight card we've reviewed, consolidated retailer pallets and standalone LTL were priced differently. A PO that arrived too late for the consolidation cutoff is a legitimate reason; otherwise, ask why.
Questions to ask your 3PL#
- For each customer or lane, does freight ship on your carrier accounts or mine?
- On freight you bill me, is it at your carrier cost, cost plus a percentage or fee, or your own lane rates or quotes?
- On cost-plus, does the markup apply to fuel, accessorials and corrections?
- On your own rates, what does each rate or quote include, how long does a quote hold, and do I approve it before you tender?
- How do reweighs, reclasses, delivery accessorials and carrier credits reach me, and on which invoice?
- Which warehouse fees apply to collect, routed and will-call orders?
Checklist: checking a freight line#
Ask for the B2B order detail and freight bill (The supporting detail files you should always request).
FAQ#
Does my 3PL mark up freight?
It depends on the route, and a 3PL is entitled to a margin on freight it books. On cost-plus, get the percentage or fee in writing; on the 3PL's own lane rates or quotes, judge the rates. Pass-through carries no margin, and booking or BOL fees can apply on any route.
Who pays freight on a retailer order?
The party the BOL's freight terms name: you on prepaid, the retailer on collect, or a named third party; one carrier's BOL terms let it bill the shipper if collect charges go unpaid and the shipper hasn't signed its non-recourse clause2. The retailer's routing guide can set those terms; on collect orders you still pay the 3PL's warehouse fees.
Why did my freight charge go up after the order shipped?
Carriers can add delivery accessorials after the shipment and correct weight or class after inspection, and fuel moves with a corrected linehaul. On a firm 3PL quote, the price shouldn't change. Otherwise, ask for the carrier's corrected freight bill, matched by PRO.
Can I ship B2B freight on my own LTL account or broker through a 3PL?
You can ask to; one 2016 contract has the 3PL ship on the client's carrier accounts7. The carrier or broker then bills you, corrections included, on its own payment terms2, and you handle claims (Filing carrier claims for lost or damaged parcels and freight). The 3PL can still bill scheduling or BOL fees; see Using your own carrier accounts vs. the 3PL's: total cost and control.
Sources#
20 sources cited
- Old Dominion Freight Line, "ODFL Bill of Lading BOL Guide" (PDF; created Dec 14, 2023; modified Oct 8, 2026; accessed Oct 19, 2026). https://www.odfl.com/content/dam/odfl/us/en/documents/fill-print-forms/ODFL_Bill_of_Lading_BOL_Guide.pdf
- TForce Freight, "Rules and Charges – Tariff UPGF 102-T" (effective Aug 17, 2026; accessed Oct 19, 2026), Items 1, 100, 110, 120, 140, 361-A, 362, 365, 610-A, 645-A, 890, 990. https://tforcefreight.com/downloads/UPGF-102-T-20260817.pdf
- GS1 US (Apparel and General Merchandise Initiative), "The GS1 US/VICS Voluntary Guidelines for the Routing Guide" (Release 2.0, Jan 29, 2016). https://documents.gs1us.org/adobe/assets/deliver/urn:aaid:aem:4877b6c8-548f-466b-a3f0-d59476e1027d/Guideline-The-GS1-US-VICS-Voluntary-Guidelines-for-the-Routing-Guide.pdf
- FreightWaves, "Walmart expands LTL truck consolidation program for suppliers" (May 26, 2026; updated May 27, 2026). https://www.freightwaves.com/news/walmart-launches-ltl-truck-consolidation-program-for-suppliers
- Cornell Legal Information Institute, "UCC § 2-319. F.O.B. and F.A.S. Terms" (accessed Oct 19, 2026). https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/2/2-319
- Intek Freight & Logistics, "What Is the Difference in Prepaid & Add and Collect Freight?" (Sep 15, 2019). https://www.inteklogistics.com/difference-prepaid-add-and-collect-freight
- SEC EDGAR, ConnectM Technology Solutions, Exhibit 10.18, warehouse and fulfillment services agreement (executed 2016; filed 2023). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1895249/000110465923127816/mcac-20230930xex10d18.htm
- SEC EDGAR, AeroGrow International, Exhibit 10.12, "Master Service Agreement" (Oct 7, 2005), Sec. 1.2(c). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001316644/000114420405033900/v028166_ex10-12.htm
- SEC EDGAR, Dynamic Response Group, Exhibit 10.5, "Fulfillment Services Agreement" (Jul 9, 2008). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001098685/000119312509050993/dex105.htm
- SEC EDGAR, Endo International plc, Exhibit 10.19.3, "Second Amendment to MSA" (letter dated Jun 1, 2015), Service Schedule No. 2 and Exhibit A-1. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1593034/000159303415000027/ex10193-upssecondamendment.htm
- Total Transportation & Distribution, "Tariff Info" (undated; accessed Oct 19, 2026). https://ttdwest.com/resources-faq/tariff-info/
- Old Dominion Freight Line, "How Does LTL Pricing Work? What to Discuss With Your Carrier" (undated; accessed Oct 19, 2026). https://www.odfl.com/us/en/resources/freight-knowledge/odfl-blog/ltl-pricing-guide.html
- TForce Freight, "Fuel Surcharge" (class-based LTL fuel surcharge effective Oct 7, 2026; accessed Oct 19, 2026). https://www.tforcefreight.com/ltl/apps/FuelSurcharge
- Old Dominion Freight Line, "Streamline Your Shipping Process: A Guide to Accessorial Charges" (Feb 5, 2025). https://www.odfl.com/us/en/resources/freight-knowledge/odfl-blog/what-your-accessorial-charges-mean.html
- Old Dominion Freight Line, "NMFTA Resource Page: Navigating the Ongoing NMFC Changes" (undated; accessed Oct 19, 2026). https://www.odfl.com/us/en/resources/freight-knowledge/odfl-blog/nmfc-class-changes.html
- Old Dominion Freight Line, "Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. Announces General Rate Increase" (Oct 20, 2025). https://www.odfl.com/us/en/about/ODFL-news/ODFL-press-releases/2026-General-Rate-Increase.html
- TForce Freight, "TForce Freight Announces Rate Changes" (Mar 16, 2026). https://tforcefreight.com/ltl/apps/Announcement_details?id=1
- Cornell Legal Information Institute, "49 U.S. Code § 14103 – Loading and unloading motor vehicles" (accessed Oct 19, 2026). https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/14103
- Cornell Legal Information Institute, "49 U.S. Code § 13710 – Additional billing and collecting practices" (accessed Oct 19, 2026). https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/13710
- One Step Logistics, "Warehouse Services Rates" (PDF, undated; accessed Oct 19, 2026). https://onesteplogistics.com/uploads/1000/editor/docs/OSLWarehouseShopServiceRates.pdf