TONU, Layover and Reconsignment: The Accessorials Freight Brokers Forget to Invoice

The short answer: Most brokers do not lose accessorial money because the customer refuses to pay. They lose it because nobody writes the charge down when the event happens, nobody collects the proof, and the invoice goes out before the charge arrives. The three that slip most often are TONU (truck order not used), layover, and reconsignment. Each one can be billed to the customer only if three things exist: a rate or rule agreed before the event, a timestamped record of what happened, and a line on the invoice that matches the carrier's cost. If any of the three is missing, you usually pay the carrier and absorb the loss.

Below is how each charge works, what evidence it needs, and a simple routine that keeps them from falling through the cracks.

Why these three get missed

A normal load has a clean trail: tender, pickup, delivery, proof of delivery, invoice. Accessorials happen off that trail. A driver gets cancelled at the dock at 4 p.m. A load misses its appointment and sits over a weekend. A consignee calls and says the freight needs to go to a different building.

Each event is handled by a dispatcher or carrier rep on a phone or in an email thread. The carrier then sends an invoice with an extra line, or a text asking to be made whole. The broker agrees to pay the carrier to keep the relationship healthy. The customer invoice, meanwhile, was already built from the original rate confirmation. The cost is real, the billing step never happens, and the margin on that load quietly turns negative.

TONU: truck order not used

TONU is what a carrier charges when it dispatched a truck for your load and the load was cancelled or not ready after the truck was committed. The amount and the cutoff for when it applies vary by carrier and by customer agreement, so do not assume a standard number.

What to capture:

• The time the load was tendered and the time it was cancelled, in writing.
• Where the truck was when the cancellation happened (already en route, at the shipper, or still at the carrier's yard). Many carriers price these differently.
• Who cancelled, and why. If the shipper was not ready, the shipper's own message is your best proof.

Where brokers slip: the cancellation happens by phone, the carrier gets paid a TONU, and the customer never hears about it. Then a month later someone asks why the load shows cost with no revenue.

The fix: send the customer a short written note the same day: "Load was cancelled at [time] after the truck was dispatched. Per our agreement, a truck order not used charge applies." If your customer agreement does not mention TONU, that is the real gap. Add it before the next event, not after.

Layover: when the truck waits past the day

Layover generally refers to a truck held overnight or across a day because the freight was not ready, the dock could not take it, or an appointment was missed for reasons outside the carrier's control. It is a different charge from detention, which is time spent waiting within a shift. Many people blur the two, and that blur is how both end up unbilled.

What to capture:

• The original appointment and the actual arrival, check-in, and departure times.
• Who caused the delay. A missed appointment caused by the carrier is usually not billable to the customer. A facility that could not unload is.
• Any message that confirms the truck was told to wait, rather than reschedule or leave.

Where brokers slip: the carrier reports layover after the delivery, sometimes days later. By then the customer invoice is out, and the broker has to decide whether to open a new invoice or eat the cost. The easiest way to lose the charge is to treat it as an exception to resolve later.

The fix: ask carriers to report layover the same day it starts, not when they invoice. Put a line in your carrier instructions and your rate confirmation template that says layover needs prior approval and a timestamp. That single rule changes the shape of the problem, because you hear about it while the customer can still be told.

Reconsignment: a changed destination

Reconsignment means the delivery location changes after the load has already been tendered or is in transit. It often brings extra miles, a different appointment, and sometimes a different consignee. It is the easiest accessorial to forget because the load still delivers and still gets a proof of delivery. Nothing looks broken.

What to capture:

• The original consignee and address, and the new ones, in the customer's own words.
• The time the change was requested, and whether the truck had already left.
• The added mileage or any other cost the carrier is charging, with their written confirmation.

Where brokers slip: a customer contact makes the change on a phone call, the dispatcher agrees to help, and the paperwork still shows the original destination. The proof of delivery then does not match the rate confirmation, which is a second problem: the invoice package looks wrong even before you try to add a charge.

The fix: get the change in writing from someone with authority to change the order, and ask the carrier for an updated rate confirmation. Whether the customer owes anything extra depends on the agreement, but you cannot even start that conversation without a dated record of the request.

A routine that catches all three

You do not need new software to start. You need a short checkpoint before every invoice goes out.

1. At the event: write one line in the load record naming the event type, the time, and the person who reported it.
2. Within a day: notify the customer in writing and ask the carrier to confirm their charge in writing.
3. Before invoicing: compare the carrier's total cost on the load to the original rate confirmation. Any difference needs either a matching customer charge or a documented decision to absorb it.
4. At invoice build: attach the evidence (messages, timestamps, updated confirmations) in the same package as the proof of delivery.
5. Weekly: review loads where carrier cost exceeded the quoted cost. That list is where unbilled accessorials hide.

Step 3 is the most useful. A cost-versus-quote check does not require remembering any individual event. It catches all of them, including the ones nobody thought to mention.

Keep the customer relationship intact

Billing an accessorial does not need to feel like a dispute. Customers tend to push back when a charge arrives with no warning and no evidence. They tend to accept it when they were told at the time, the amount matches an agreement, and the paperwork is attached. The goal is to make the charge boring and predictable.

If your customer agreement says nothing about these charges, raise it as a planning conversation, not a collection one. Agree on how each is calculated before the next incident, so the next incident is just a line item.

FAQ

Can I bill the customer for every accessorial the carrier charges me? Not automatically. You can bill what your customer agreement or rate confirmation allows, and what the customer approved at the time. Without either, you are asking for a favor, so check your terms first.

What is the difference between layover and detention? Detention is generally time spent waiting at a facility beyond an agreed free period. Layover is generally an overnight or multi-day hold. Carriers and customers define the exact thresholds differently, so confirm yours in writing.

Is the TONU amount standard across the industry? No. It varies by carrier, lane, and agreement. Treat any number you read online as a reference point, not a rule.

What if the carrier tells me about the charge after I have already invoiced? You can usually issue a supplemental invoice if your terms allow it, with the same evidence package. The sooner you do it, the easier the conversation. Waiting weeks makes it harder to defend.

Who should own this process? One named person per customer account is better than a shared inbox. Accessorials get lost when everyone assumes someone else sent the note.