Should-Cost — Road (FTL & LTL)
Picture a 53’ FTL load from Long Beach to Dallas. The carrier quotes you $3.06/mile plus FSC. The DAT national van average is $2.68/mi. You can read that number against the index, see whether the lane is over or under, and have a real negotiation.
Now picture an LTL shipment, 4 pallets, Class 70, Cleveland to Atlanta. The carrier’s quote: $771. There is no public LTL spot index. There’s a tariff (probably $1,680), a discount (probably 78%), a fuel surcharge percentage, and a stack of accessorials. The “rate” you negotiate is actually a discount-off-tariff, and the discount is one of about 30 negotiable dimensions in the underlying contract.
Road is the mode where should-cost modeling is both the most developed and the most divergent from what carriers actually quote. US FTL has the deepest public benchmarks of any freight mode; LTL is the least transparent because of tariff + discount + NMFC classification complexity.
Starting cold? “Should cost” decomposes a forwarder’s quoted price into the cost drivers underneath. Read the Road chapter first if the operational context is new.
FTL cost build-up — per load, US dry van
Section titled “FTL cost build-up — per load, US dry van”| Line item | Typical range | Primary driver | Negotiability | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linehaul base | $1.70–$3.50 / mi all-in (national van averaged ~$2.68/mi early 2026 [DAT Trendlines]) | Lane supply/demand, origin-destination tender history | Contract / spot split | [DAT] RateView, [Cass], [Sonar] |
| Fuel surcharge | $0.35–$0.70 / mi | DOE diesel index | Indexed weekly | DOE weekly diesel retail price |
| Stop charges (multi-stop) | $75–$150 / stop | Number of stops beyond first | Negotiable | Carrier tariff |
| Driver detention | $75–$125 / hr after 2 hrs | Dock cycle time at pickup/delivery | Fixed by contract; triggered by operations | Carrier tariff |
| Layover | $250–$450 / night | Driver forced overnight | Fixed | Carrier tariff |
| Lumper (unload service) | $150–$400 / load | Receiver policy | Receiver-controlled; reimbursable | Receiver-published fee |
| Reconsignment / redelivery | $150–$400 / event | Delivery failure root cause | Fixed | Carrier tariff |
| Driver assist / inside delivery | $50–$200 / event | Type of delivery site | Fixed | Carrier tariff |
| Hazmat / DG surcharge | $75–$300 / load | DG classification | Fixed | US DOT 49 CFR / [ADR] in EU |
| OOG / oversize permits | $50–$500+ / jurisdiction | State/country permitting | Regulatory | State DOT / EU authorities |
| Tolls | $25–$150 / load | Route | Pass-through | TomTom / PC*Miler data |
| Accessorial ceiling | 3–12% of linehaul | Execution discipline | Negotiable via contract + operational fix | Internal actuals |
LTL cost build-up — per shipment, US
Section titled “LTL cost build-up — per shipment, US”| Line item | Typical range | Primary driver | Negotiability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base rate | Tariff × class × distance × weight (discounts 60–90% off tariff are standard) | NMFC class, density, dimensions | Discount-off-tariff negotiated at RFP |
| Fuel surcharge | 30–45% of base rate | DOE diesel index | Indexed |
| Minimum charge | $100–$200 | Carrier floor per shipment | Fixed |
| Re-classification fee | $50–$150 | Dim audit revision | Fixed; disputable with accurate BOL |
| Dim audit re-weigh | $30–$75 | Carrier-initiated dim scan | Fixed |
| Liftgate / residential / limited-access | $100–$250 each | Delivery location type | Fixed |
| Reconsignment | $75–$200 | Address change in transit | Fixed |
| Inside / driver-assist | $50–$150 | Unloading type | Fixed |
| Notification / appointment | $30–$75 | Receiver requirement | Fixed |
Sensitivities
Section titled “Sensitivities”- Classification and dim compliance. NMFC class misclassification (declaring Class 70 when the shipment audits to Class 125) causes 20–40% cost spikes on the affected shipments. Carrier dim scanners have made this brutal since ~2018.
- Fuel surcharge structure. Carriers’ FSC tables don’t move in lockstep with the DOE index. Some are capped, some are indexed weekly, some monthly. Small differences compound.
- Accessorial exposure. The difference between 5% and 15% of linehaul in accessorials is typically more than the difference between best and worst base-rate quotes.
- Lane tender-acceptance rate. A contracted rate with 60% tender acceptance is worse than a slightly higher rate with 95% acceptance; rejected tenders go to spot at 2–3×.
Where to benchmark
Section titled “Where to benchmark”- FTL spot: [DAT] RateView and [Sonar] are the two dominant US benchmarks; contract benchmarks come from shipper-side platforms.
- LTL: no public spot index exists; benchmarking requires tariff-to-tariff comparisons with carrier discount schedules, typically done through LTL rate-shopping platforms (SMC³, Carrier Logistics, FreightPOP).
- EU: [Xeneta] has expanded into EU road; IRU and EUROSTAT publish volume data; rate data is fragmented.
Shipper levers
Section titled “Shipper levers”- Dock scheduling and dwell discipline. The single highest-leverage operational fix. Best-in-class: 45-minute dock turn times, appointment system with carrier-facing rescheduling. Worst: trailers sitting 6+ hours waiting on doors.
- NMFC audit. Pull 90 days of LTL shipments and validate classification. Routine finding: 10–20% of shipments classified incorrectly in one direction or the other.
- Lane-level RFP with accessorial caps. Negotiate not just the linehaul but the ceiling on detention, lumper reimbursement, accessorial total.
- Digital brokerage as a second channel. For 10–20% spot overflow, running a parallel digital freight brokerage alongside traditional 3PL pressure-tests rates.
- Appointment automation. Dock scheduling platforms (C3 Solutions, Opendock, FourKites Appointment Manager) reduce detention spend 20–50% on bad-behavior lanes.
- Cross-border trusted-trader. CTPAT / FAST membership cuts border exam rates 10–30%, worth 15–60 minutes per crossing on US-MX / US-CA lanes.
Hidden-cost map
Section titled “Hidden-cost map”- Detention to cost center that doesn’t see it. Operations incurs the dwell, transportation pays the detention; the GL doesn’t surface the tradeoff without effort.
- Lumper reimbursement drift. Receivers often charge back lumper fees the carrier already paid; reconciliation gaps compound.
- Cabotage penalties. Foreign carriers running reposition loads through EU / US beyond cabotage limits can expose the shipper to fines.
- ELD hour “waste.” A driver dispatched to your DC near their HOS limit ends up with forced reset at your expense.
- Peak surcharges. US FedEx Freight / XPO impose peak LTL surcharges in Q4 that are often not in the contract ceiling.
Worked example — FTL
Section titled “Worked example — FTL”Lane: Long Beach, CA → Dallas, TX, 53’ dry van, Tuesday tender, Q2 non-peak. Numbers are illustrative.
Cost composition Total: $4,390
- Linehaul (1,435 mi × $2.15) $3,085 70.3%
- Fuel surcharge $745 17.0%
- Lumper (reimbursable) $280 6.4%
- Stop-off $120 2.7%
- Detention allowance $100 2.3%
- Tolls $60 1.4%
| Line | Cost |
|---|---|
Linehaul 1,435 mi @ $2.15/mi | $3,085 |
Fuel surcharge @ $0.52/mi | $745 |
| Tolls | $60 |
| Detention allowance (expected) | $100 |
| 1 stop-off | $120 |
| Lumper (reimbursable) | $280 |
| Per-load all-in | $4,390 |
Worked example — LTL
Section titled “Worked example — LTL”Shipment: Cleveland OH → Atlanta GA, 4 pallets, 1,800 lb, Class 70, 34 × 40 × 60 inch, Tuesday tender. Numbers are illustrative.
Cost composition Total: $771
- Base (tariff × 78% discount) $370 48.0%
- Fuel surcharge 38% $141 18.3%
- Liftgate delivery $120 15.6%
- Residential surcharge $95 12.3%
- Appointment fee $45 5.8%
| Line | Cost |
|---|---|
Tariff base $1,680 × 78% discount | $370 |
| Fuel surcharge 38% | $141 |
| Minimum charge floor (n/a, base exceeds) | $0 |
| Liftgate delivery | $120 |
| Residential surcharge | $95 |
| Appointment fee | $45 |
| Per-shipment all-in | $771 |
Base + FSC is 66% of total; accessorials are a third. Standard structure and why accessorial discipline dominates rate negotiation on most LTL lanes.
References
Section titled “References”- [FMCSA HOS] — US driver hours-of-service caps and ELD mandate.
- [EU 561/2006] — EU driving-time, breaks, and rest-period rules.
- [EU Mobility Package] — cabotage limits, posted-driver rules.
- [NMFTA NMFC] — US LTL classification system.
- [USMCA] — US-Mexico-Canada cross-border rules of origin.
- [DAT], [Cass], [Sonar], [Xeneta] — road rate benchmarks.
- [ATA American Trucking Trends 2025] — US trucking tonnage and revenue share data.
Full details on the References page.