A freight driver’s job finishes at the tail of the trailer. Moving a pallet past that point, through a doorway, along a corridor or up to another floor, is a separate service with its own tariff item, and it is the accessorial with the highest ceiling of the three that catch small shippers. This page sets out what the carriers say they will do, what they charge, and the conditions they attach.
Everything beyond the point next to the vehicle is a purchased service.
Not equipment, and not the address. The trigger is labour: freight being moved to or from a position that is not immediately next to the truck.
FedEx Freight describes the service in item 566 as moving all or part of a shipment from or to positions beyond the point directly accessible or immediately next to the vehicle. R+L titles the same item handling freight at positions not immediately adjacent to vehicle. Estes uses that phrase as the name of the charge outright.
Bringing a pallet down from the trailer floor to the ground is a different item with a different charge, covered separately on this site. A shipment can attract both on the same delivery, and frequently does, because the reason nobody has a dock is often the same reason nobody has a forklift indoors.
Carriers distinguish between putting the freight down where the truck can reach and taking it somewhere. Ask for a specific room and you have asked for inside delivery. Ask for it to be left on the driveway and you have not.
FedEx Freight states plainly that the charges apply wherever and whenever the service is performed. A driver who helps because the situation demands it has not done you a favour that stays off the invoice.
Every one of these is priced per hundred pounds with a floor and, in most cases, a ceiling. That structure matters: for a light pallet you pay the minimum whatever the distance, and for a heavy one the ceiling is what protects you.
| Carrier and item | Rate | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| R+L Carriers, item 566 | $24.00 per cwt | $225.00 per shipment | $2,250.00 per shipment or per vehicle |
| FedEx Freight, item 566 | $18.92 per cwt | $200.00 | $1,999.00 per vehicle, per shipment |
| XPO, item 216 | $16.60 per cwt | $170.00 | $1,430.00 |
| Old Dominion, item 566 | $7.70 per cwt | $115.00 | $605.00 |
| Old Dominion, item 566, New York 100 to 102 | $16.50 per cwt | $175.00 | $800.00 |
| Estes, item 566, street level | $10.25 per cwt | $100.00 | Not published |
| Estes, item 566, New York 100 to 102 | $14.50 per cwt | $110.00 | Not published |
| Estes, item 566, each further floor | $1.20 per cwt | $14.00 | Not published |
The spread is wider than on any other common accessorial. A 600 lb pallet taken inside costs the Old Dominion minimum of $115.00 at one carrier and $225.00 at another for exactly the same work, and the ceilings differ by nearly four times. Two carriers also charge more for Manhattan than for anywhere else in the country, which is honest about where the labour actually is.
FedEx Freight, R+L and Estes all limit the service to floors above or below the level the vehicle reaches, and only when a lift or escalator is available and any labour needed to operate it is provided at no cost to the carrier. No lift means the freight stops at ground level, whatever you have paid.
Estes prices each further floor above or below street level separately, at $1.20 per cwt with a $14.00 minimum on top of the street level charge. Where no carrier will do it, the answer is a local mover or a delivery to a business address, not an argument at the door.
R+L states in item 566 that it has no liability or responsibility for damage or injury resulting from inside delivery services it performs, and that the party requesting the service indemnifies the carrier for claims arising from it. Read that before asking a driver to bring a machine through a shop.
FedEx Freight says in item 750-2 that the residential charge, published at $243.00 per shipment, applies in addition to inside pickup or delivery and all other lawful charges. A pallet taken into a home office can therefore carry a residential line, an inside line and a liftgate line on the same invoice.
Two people and a pallet truck cost less than any of the minimums in the table above. If the freight can be broken down at the tailgate and carried in, do that and book a plain delivery.
Most carriers will hold a shipment for collection, and some publish the charge for it. Estes lists $42.75 for a pickup from the carrier’s dock in item 752. If you have a van and an hour, that is a fraction of an inside delivery minimum.
A friendly commercial address removes the inside charge, the liftgate charge and usually the residential charge in one move. It is the single most effective thing a small seller can do about accessorials.
Requesting the service in advance gets it priced and scheduled. Requesting it at the door gets it priced anyway, and risks a redelivery on top, which Old Dominion publishes at $7.20 per cwt with a $150.00 minimum.
The honest answer for a first freight shipment is that the receiving end decides most of the cost, and nobody can read that from an address. Tell us what is at both ends, a doorway width, whether there is a dock, whether anyone can lift, and we will price the move with the right services on it rather than discovering them afterwards.
Describe both ends of the move The equipment charge, separately The address charge, separately
Moving the freight to or from a position beyond the point immediately next to the vehicle. It does not include unpacking, assembly, setup or debris removal, and carriers say so in the same items that price it.
It is priced per hundred pounds with a floor. Old Dominion publishes $7.70 per cwt with a $115.00 minimum, Estes $10.25 per cwt with a $100.00 minimum at street level, XPO $16.60 per cwt with a $170.00 minimum, FedEx Freight $18.92 per cwt with a $200.00 minimum, and R+L $24.00 per cwt with a $225.00 minimum.
Only where a lift or escalator is available and any labour to run it costs the carrier nothing, which is the condition FedEx Freight, R+L and Estes all attach to the service. Estes prices each further floor at $1.20 per cwt with a $14.00 minimum on top of the street level charge.
No. FedEx Freight states in item 750-2 that its residential charge of $243.00 per shipment applies in addition to inside pickup or delivery and all other lawful charges, so both appear on the same invoice.