Liftgate, residential and limited access: what the delivery site costs you

Notes from the yard — published September 3, 2026 by the dispatch desk at Long Road Transportation.

Accessorials are not a rounding error any more

Accessorial fees rose roughly 8 to 12 percent across major carriers in 2026, and for a typical shipper they now account for something like 20 to 30 percent of total freight spend. That is not a line item. That is a fifth of the budget being decided by facts nobody checked before booking.

An accessorial is simply anything outside a plain dock-to-dock pickup and delivery: a liftgate, an appointment window, a residential address, driver wait time.

The three that show up most

• Liftgate — needed whenever the destination has no dock and no forklift. Commonly $75 to $200 and up per shipment.
• Residential — applies to any address the carrier classifies as residential, and that includes home-based businesses. Typically $50 to $150.
• Limited access — schools, military bases, churches, construction sites, storage facilities, anywhere entry is restricted or escorted.

They stack, and the most expensive combination is the most common one: a house almost never has a dock, so residential and liftgate arrive together. A construction site is limited access and usually needs a liftgate too.

Four questions that settle the rate

Everything above is predictable if the delivery site is described honestly at booking. What dispatch needs is short:

• Is there a dock, and if not, is there a forklift on site?
• What is the longest truck the street and the approach will physically take? A 26-foot box truck fits places a tractor and 53-foot trailer will never reach.
• Is the address residential, or a business inside a residential zone?
• Is there an appointment window, a gate, a check-in, or an escort requirement?

Why we quote it inclusive

Our box trucks are liftgate-equipped as standard, and they are our own trucks with our own drivers. Where the delivery conditions are known up front, the accessorials go into the rate rather than onto the invoice a week later. Where they are not known, we say so before the truck is dispatched.

The same fleet finishes container work: a box stripped at our Kent warehouse and delivered in pallets to an address a chassis could never reach. That handoff is described on the box truck delivery and warehousing pages.

Questions we get asked

When do I need a liftgate?

Whenever the delivery site has no loading dock and no forklift of its own. Without one, there is no way to get the freight from the truck bed to the ground.

Why is a home-based business charged residential?

Carriers classify by the address, not the business licence. A commercial name at a house is still a residential delivery, and it is nearly always a liftgate delivery too.

Can accessorials be included in the quoted rate?

Yes, when the delivery conditions are known when the rate is built. That is why the four site questions are asked at booking rather than at the door.

Read next

• Reefer loads: pre-cool, continuous run, and the temperature log that settles the claim
• What changes when the carrier owns the chassis

Long Road Transportation is an asset-based carrier operating its own trucks, chassis and heavy-haul equipment out of Kent and Tacoma, Washington. USDOT 3388302, MC 113242, SCAC LRDP.