Appointment Fee

An appointment fee is an accessorial charge carriers apply when the pickup or delivery facility requires a scheduled appointment rather than accepting freight on a first-come-first-served basis. The fee – typically $25 to $100 – compensates the carrier for the administrative work of scheduling the appointment and for the reduced flexibility in routing and driver dispatch that a fixed time slot creates. Appointment fees are standard in LTL and increasingly common in FTL, particularly for deliveries to retail distribution centers, grocery warehouses, and food service facilities that operate strict dock schedules.

Many large receivers – Walmart, Costco, Sysco, and similar operations – mandate appointments and impose penalties for missed windows. The carrier must coordinate with the receiver's scheduling system, arrive within the designated slot, and risk detention charges if the dock runs behind. The appointment fee covers the carrier's side of this coordination. For shippers, the fee is a known cost of doing business with appointment-mandatory receivers, but it becomes a problem when it's not built into the original shipment quote or when carriers apply appointment fees to deliveries where appointments weren't actually required.

Shippers can manage appointment fees by maintaining accurate delivery-requirement profiles for each consignee – flagging which locations mandate appointments, which are first-come-first-served, and which have hybrid systems. This information should flow into the rating and tendering process so appointment fees are included in the quote, not added as a post-delivery surprise. Proactive dock scheduling – booking appointments at the time of tendering rather than leaving it to the carrier – can also reduce fees and improve delivery reliability.