An LTL quote is not a price, it is a stack of charges, and each one is produced by a rule somebody filed in a tariff. Quotes from two carriers look nothing alike because the stack is assembled differently, not because one of them is hiding something. Here is the order, and where each line is published.
If a charge appears that nobody mentioned, it has an item number and you can ask for it.
Old Dominion sets out the parts of an LTL charge on its pricing guide page, read 2026-07-28. The names differ from carrier to carrier. The machinery does not.
| Line | What it is | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Linehaul | The base charge for the move itself | Lane, weight, class |
| Class | The rating the commodity carries | Density, handling, stowability, liability |
| Weight | Gross weight of the handling unit, packaging and pallet included | The scale at the terminal |
| Absolute minimum charge | A floor under the whole shipment, published as item 180 with separate intrastate and interstate figures and mileage bands at 699 miles or fewer, 700 to 1,199 miles, and 1,200 miles or more | The distance band, and nothing else |
| Fuel surcharge | A percentage applied to the net shipment subtotal | A published index that moves weekly |
| Accessorials | Charges for anything asked of the driver or terminal beyond dock to dock | The addresses and the equipment at both ends |
The order matters, because the fuel line is a percentage of a subtotal rather than a flat amount, so anything that lifts the charges underneath it lifts that line too. Exactly which charges sit inside that subtotal is a carrier by carrier question, and one worth asking outright before you compare two quotes.
These are the frequently used charges Old Dominion publishes in the accessorial reference drawn from tariff ODFL 100-Q, effective January 7, 2026, read 2026-07-28. We give the trigger and the shape of each charge rather than an amount, because amounts move with the tariff and with your own rate structure, and the carrier current tariff is the only figure worth quoting.
| Accessorial | Item | What triggers it | How it is charged |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hydraulic lift gate | 891 | No dock at one end, so the freight has to come down on the truck | Per hundredweight, with a minimum and a maximum |
| Inside pickup or delivery | 566 | Freight has to go past the dock or the threshold | Per hundredweight, with a minimum and a maximum, and higher figures at New York ZIPs 100 to 102 |
| Limited access pickup or delivery | 753-1 to 753-4 | Residences, schools, construction sites and military facilities | Per hundredweight, with a minimum and a maximum |
| Appointment delivery or prior notification | 647 | The consignee has to be called or booked in | Flat |
| Redelivery | 830 | The shipment could not be handed over on the first attempt | Per hundredweight, with a minimum and a maximum |
| Overlength articles | 670-5 | A single article 8 feet or longer, with further steps at 12 feet and 20 feet | Flat, by length band |
| Sorting, segregating, palletizing, recouping or debris removal | 887 | Work at the dock beyond taking the freight off the truck | Per hundredweight, with a minimum |
| Hazardous materials | 540 | Regulated goods declared on the bill of lading | Flat per shipment |
| Protect from freezing | 810 | The commodity cannot be allowed to freeze in transit | Per hundredweight, with a minimum |
| Corrected bill of lading | 365 | The document had to be changed after it was issued | Flat |
| Re-consignment or diversion | 820 | The shipment is redirected once it is already in the network | Two parts: an administrative charge and a recalculated linehaul |
| After hours, weekend or holiday work | 752-3 | Pickup or delivery between 8:00 pm and 6:00 am, or on a weekend or holiday | Per person per hour at weekends with per day minimums, and the holiday window opens at 8 pm the day before |
Old Dominion states plainly that this reference is an abbreviated quick guide and not a complete list. Two things follow. Read the carrier own rules tariff for anything unusual, and describe the awkward end of your lane before the quote rather than after the delivery attempt.
Item 390 of the same tariff covers shipments requiring 20 linear feet or more of trailer, or 20,000 pounds or more of freight, as capacity loads. Past either figure the shipment is competing with a truckload for the same floor, and the pricing conversation changes shape entirely.
Carrier liability is capped by tariff item, not by what the goods cost you. Old Dominion publishes maximum liability for articles of extraordinary value under item 594 and sells additional cargo liability separately under item 574. Read both before assuming a claim would make you whole.
Item 564 requires full payment of freight charges within 42 days of the original invoice due date, failing which the payer is assessed liquidated damages equal to 35 percent of the unpaid receivable. A freight invoice is not a bill to sit on while you argue.
Line up the class, the rated weight, the accessorials and the fuel basis before you compare the totals, because a quote missing a lift gate at a residential address is not cheaper, it is incomplete. We sell US domestic parcel labels directly, and a person prices pallet and LTL moves against real carrier tariffs.
What to send before asking Understand the class line Send a shipment for pricing
The linehaul for the move, the class and the weight it is rated at, an absolute minimum charge acting as a floor, a fuel surcharge applied as a percentage, and accessorials for whatever the driver and terminal are asked to do at each end.
It is the least a carrier will charge for a shipment however small it is. Old Dominion publishes it as item 180, with separate intrastate and interstate figures and mileage bands starting at 699 miles or fewer.
Because the quote is built from what you told the carrier. The terminal weighs and measures the load, and anything the driver needed at either end is added afterwards, so a quote is an estimate with a tariff standing behind it.
The ones that describe an address rather than a service: limited access locations such as residences, schools, construction sites and military facilities, and a lift gate at an end with no dock. Both are known in advance and both are cheaper declared than discovered.