What Are Freight Costs?
Freight costs are everything paid to move goods from collection to delivery. See what they include, what drives them and who pays.
What are freight costs? They are the full amount a consignment costs between the collection address and the delivery address: the carrier's base rate plus fuel surcharge, road tolls, extra services and insurance. Customs costs enter the total only for goods crossing the EU customs border.
What Is Included in Freight Costs?
A complete freight cost has 6 parts, and a clear quote shows each of them:
- Base rate: the carrier's price for the distance and the chargeable weight.
- Fuel surcharge: a variable amount linked to diesel prices.
- Road tolls: distance-based truck tolls in each country on the route.
- Accessorial charges: extras such as waiting time, tail-lift delivery, timed delivery and ADR handling.
- Insurance: cover above the carrier's CMR liability, which stops at 8.33 SDR per kg of gross weight.
- Customs costs: declarations and duties, only for goods leaving or entering the EU.
Packaging becomes part of the total when the seller packs goods specifically for transport and passes that cost to the buyer.
The fuel surcharge on a Go Trans quote follows the European Commission Weekly Oil Bulletin, so it moves with diesel prices from one booking to the next.
The first line, the base rate, is the figure most invoices call the freight charge.
How Do Freight Costs Differ from a Freight Charge?
A freight charge is the carrier's price for carriage only. Freight costs are the whole bill built around that price.
The freight charge meaning stays narrow: it pays for moving the goods. Surcharges, tolls, extras, insurance and customs sit outside the freight charge but inside the freight costs.
Both figures move with the same drivers.
What Drives Freight Costs Up or Down?
Freight costs rise or fall with 4 drivers: distance, chargeable weight, service type and extra services.
Chargeable weight is the highest of actual weight, volumetric weight and loading-metre weight, so a light but bulky load pays for the trailer space it takes up. A full truckload costs less per pallet than a part load on the same lane, as long as the goods fill the trailer. Express and timed services cost more than standard transit.
A quote for European road haulage prices all 4 drivers together. That is why 2 loads of equal weight on one lane can still end up with different totals.
The price level is one decision. Who pays it is set in the sales contract.
Who Pays Freight Costs?
The Incoterms rule written into the sales contract decides who pays freight costs and at which point the cost moves from seller to buyer.
- EXW (Ex Works): the buyer pays every freight cost from the seller's premises onward.
- CFR (Cost and Freight): the seller pays carriage to the destination port, but risk passes to the buyer once the goods are on board the vessel. CFR covers sea and inland waterway transport only.
- DAP (Delivered at Place): the seller pays carriage to the named destination, and the buyer pays any import duties.
Incoterms 2020, published by the International Chamber of Commerce, has 11 rules. Each one appears in a logistics glossary as a 3-letter code that fixes cost transfer and risk transfer in a single term.
With the paying party settled, the practical work is reading the quotes.
How Should a Shipper Compare Freight Costs?
Compare freight quotes on the total, never on the base rate alone.
Check which of the 6 parts each quote includes. Give exact dimensions so the chargeable weight is right. Name extras such as tail-lift or timed delivery at booking, not after the truck arrives.
Waiting time, tail-lift, loading metre and chargeable weight are the haulage glossary terms that explain the price gap between 2 road freight quotes on the same lane.
A quote that lists every part makes that comparison quick.
Get a Clear Freight Cost with Go Trans
Go Trans quotes show the base rate, diesel surcharge and applicable tolls, with no additions after booking. Go Trans arranges road freight from Belgium across Europe through DSV, DHL, DPD, UPS and FedEx.
FAQs
Can freight costs change after booking?
A Go Trans quote confirms the base rate, diesel surcharge and tolls at booking, with no additions afterwards. Changes to the shipment itself, such as a different weight or an added service, are agreed directly with the Go Trans team.
Are freight costs part of the customs value on imports?
Yes, for goods imported into the EU. The Union Customs Code adds transport costs up to the point where goods enter the EU customs territory to the customs value, so freight costs raise the base for import duty.
Why do some sellers charge freight as a percentage of the order value?
Webshops and wholesalers set freight as a percentage of the order value to give buyers a fixed rule at checkout. The percentage covers average transport and packaging costs across all orders, not the real cost of one shipment.
Is freight cost the same as shipping cost?
The terms overlap. Freight cost is the standard term for business transport of pallets and loads. Shipping cost is the wider consumer term that also covers parcels and postage.