Hidden fees are eating your margins alive, and most importers don’t even realize it’s happening until it’s too late. Here’s how smart shippers are turning the tide.
The Daily Leak You Can’t See
One major retail importer was spending $15,000 per week in accessorial fees without a single way to validate, challenge, or critically stop them.
That’s $720,000 annually, lost in charges like detention, chassis split, pre-pull, and driver wait time. The most frustrating part? They couldn’t determine what was legitimate or who was responsible. Like many large importers, they simply signed off and paid.
They’re not alone. Another importer selected a primary dray carrier based on the lowest base freight rate. But once the accessorials started stacking up, that “cheapest” carrier became the most expensive in their entire network. What looked like a smart cost-saving move turned out to be a margin killer.
Welcome to the ungoverned world of accessorials. A place where cost certainty evaporates and dispute resolution is more handshake than system.
When Accessorials Become a Gamble
Accessorials can quietly account for 20% to 30% of total dray spend. That’s an amount that no shipper can afford to write off or ignore.
The problem isn’t just the charges themselves. It’s how they’re submitted, reviewed, and approved (or not) that causes operational drain. Consider this common scenario:
- A dray carrier, facing delays due to port congestion or warehouse bottlenecks, calls a shipper to alert them. The charge is verbally acknowledged.
- Weeks later, after the container is emptied and returned, the fee is formally invoiced.
- There’s no paper trail (only that phone call …which may or may not be logged somewhere) and the charge is disputed.
- The “resolution” is a compromise where both parties eat the cost.
In this case, the shipper would have approved the charge had there been documentation. But without visibility, the carrier absorbs the hit and may begin deprioritizing that shipper’s freight. Everyone loses.
The Reporting Blind Spot
Shippers often don’t realize how deep the problem runs until well after the damage is done. Most only see accessorial costs in aggregate on a P&L, a month later, under a generic “accessorials” line. Charges that spike this week might not be noticed until well into the next.
Without visibility into what, where, and why those fees occurred, there’s little ability to course-correct. No root cause analysis. No systemic improvement. Just another surprise invoice and a reactive cycle that repeats month after month.
The Fix: A Standardized Accessorial Workflow
It’s this exact dysfunction that led EDRAY to create a dedicated Accessorial Workflow.
Rather than attempting to eliminate accessorials entirely (some are inevitable), EDRAY focused on eliminating the ambiguity that surrounds them. The platform provides structure where there was previously none.
Here’s how it works:
- Centralized Requests: Carriers submit accessorials directly through the platform (no emails, no guesswork).
- Bi-Directional Collaboration: Both shipper and carrier can communicate on charges in real time, reducing dispute windows.
- Rules-Based Guardrails: Shippers configure thresholds such as “auto-approve pre-pulls under $150”, “deny anything without photo proof”, etc.
- Weekly Reporting: Charges are benchmarked by region, carrier, reason, and time, which give logistics teams a chance to address issues early.
And there’s no added cost to use the tools.
The workflow is included for all EDRAY customers.
Why It Works—for Both Sides
For Shippers:
- Create internal rules to drive accountability
- Full visibility into accessorials as they happen
- True move-level cost analysis
- Eliminate surprise charges and last-minute approvals
For Dray Carriers:
- Standardized approval process reduces billing friction
- Faster decisions mean faster payment
- Transparency builds trust and better forecasting
When shippers and carriers operate from the same source of truth, the result smoother execution and healthier partnership.
The Measurable Impact
Shippers using the EDRAY workflow have seen double-digit reductions in monthly accessorial costs. With a centralized system, they’ve shifted from reactive to proactive. Charges that once slipped through the cracks are now documented, justified, and resolved quickly.
- Late approvals? Caught before they age.
- Unverified charges? Flagged.
- Repeat issues? Reviewed weekly, not quarterly.
It’s operational clarity that translates directly into better margins.
Accessorials shouldn’t be a mystery line item, and you don’t have to accept accessorials as an ungovernable part of your budget. You just need the right workflow, the right guardrails, and the right partner.
EDRAY gives you all three.
Your Trusted Partner For The Final Import Mile