Death by a Thousand Charges: The Quiet But Costly Shipping Fees You're Likely Overlooking
When it comes to shipping spend, the biggest costs aren’t always the most obvious. Beyond base rates, there are a handful of quiet fee categories that often go unnoticed if you don't know where to look—and left unchecked, they can quietly snowball into major overspend.
Let’s unpack them.
1. Dimensional Weight: Paying for Thin Air
Carriers don’t charge you based on what your package weighs. They charge you based on how much space it takes up on the truck—using something called dimensional weight (DIM).
The formula varies by carrier, if your packaging isn’t tight and right-sized, you’re likely being billed for empty space—sometimes double or triple the actual weight of the product.
Why It Hurts:
- Most shippers underestimate how often DIM weight applies.
- It disproportionately impacts lightweight, bulky items—common in retail, apparel, and consumer goods.
- Carriers adjust DIM factors regularly, making it hard to keep up.
2. Accessorial Fees: The Surcharges That Stack Up
Accessorials are the silent killers of shipping budgets. They’re not part of your base rate—they’re added on after the fact, often with minimal visibility.
These include:
- Address corrections
- Residential delivery surcharges
- Saturday delivery fees
- Oversize and overlength charges
- Fuel surcharges (which fluctuate weekly)
Why It Hurts:
- These charges are variable, so they’re hard to forecast.
- A single surcharge might seem minor—but multiplied across thousands of shipments, they become a major cost center.
- Shippers rarely have real-time reporting on which accessorials are recurring and avoidable.
3. Minimum Charges: The Floor You Didn't Know Existed
Even with strong negotiated discounts, there’s often a minimum charge per package that overrides your discount if the total falls too low.
So while you think you're paying 60% off list rate, you may actually be hitting the floor rate more often than not—especially for lightweight or short-zone shipments.
Why It Hurts:
- Minimum charges aren’t always disclosed clearly in contracts.
- They disproportionately affect the very shipments you thought were “cheap.”
- They’re almost impossible to spot unless you're auditing at the per-package level.
The Gist? Don't Go it Alone (or Trust Someone That Doesn't Get It).
None of these fees are inherently unfair—carriers apply them for operational and economic reasons. But for shippers, especially at scale, they can quietly accumulate into significant overspend when left unmonitored.
Catalyst from Intelligent Audit helps eliminate that guesswork—and the subsequent waste. It automates audit and recovery, while delivering the real-time insights you need to take control of packaging decisions, mitigate surcharges, and negotiate smarter.
Because in today’s supply chain, every dollar counts—and it’s often the smallest charges that eat away at your budget the fastest.
Sign up for Catalyst 100% risk-free—and free, free—for 90 days to see what you've been missing.
👉 Get started.
