Named measure · door-delivered bills
What share of an import freight bill is fees beyond the ocean freight?
Charges other than the ocean freight line, as a share of the whole bill, for US import container shipments delivered to the importer's door. Ratios from line-item forwarder invoices, never dollar amounts.
In Freight Benchmarks' invoice data, charges beyond the ocean freight line were 24.9% of the bill for door-delivered US import container shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026: 33 cents for every $1 of ocean freight.
For the median shipment the share was 22.1%, and for 1 in 10 it was over 42.1%. On 6.1% of shipments, the other charges added up to more than the ocean freight itself. The median bill carried 8 kinds of charge. 5,450 shipments; duties and government fees are left out.
Cite this figure
Freight Benchmarks (2026). Charges beyond the ocean freight line, share of the door-delivered bill: 24.9%. Door-delivered US import ocean container shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026; data version 2026-10-22. https://freightbenchmarks.com/benchmarks/fees-beyond-freight/#fig-bill-composition-national-non-freight-share-pct (CC BY 4.0)
Cite this figure
Freight Benchmarks (2026). Charges beyond the ocean freight line per $1 of ocean freight: 33¢. Door-delivered US import ocean container shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026; data version 2026-10-22. https://freightbenchmarks.com/benchmarks/fees-beyond-freight/#fig-bill-composition-national-other-per-freight-dollar-cents (CC BY 4.0)
Cite this figure
Freight Benchmarks (2026). Charges beyond the ocean freight line, share of the bill, median shipment: 22.1%. Door-delivered US import ocean container shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026; data version 2026-10-22. https://freightbenchmarks.com/benchmarks/fees-beyond-freight/#fig-bill-composition-national-non-freight-share-median-pct (CC BY 4.0)
Cite this figure
Freight Benchmarks (2026). Share of door-delivered shipments whose other charges exceeded the ocean freight: 6.1%. Door-delivered US import ocean container shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026; data version 2026-10-22. https://freightbenchmarks.com/benchmarks/fees-beyond-freight/#fig-bill-composition-national-other-exceeds-freight (CC BY 4.0)
Cite this figure
Freight Benchmarks (2026). Kinds of charge per door-delivered bill, median: 8. Door-delivered US import ocean container shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026; data version 2026-10-22. https://freightbenchmarks.com/benchmarks/fees-beyond-freight/#fig-bill-composition-national-charge-types-median (CC BY 4.0)
Where the money on the bill goes
Share of the bill, all door-delivered shipments
Importer-weighted shares of billed dollars; they add to 100%. Gray: the ocean freight line.
| Part of the bill | Share |
|---|---|
| Ocean freight lineThe ocean freight charge; it can include some destination services | 75.1% |
| Delivery truckingDrayage or LTL/FTL delivery, fuel and base chassis rental | 16.0% |
| Customs, handling, terminal and otherCustoms filing, handling, terminal and port charges, warehouse and the rest | 5.6% |
| Accessorial feesDemurrage, per diem (detention), customs exam, port congestion surcharge, storage, chassis split, chassis extra days, pre-pull, driver waiting time, and overweight | 3.3% |
Accessorial fees are 3.3% of all billed dollars combined. They fall on a minority of shipments: across all ocean container shipments, 43.6% paid at least one. See fees per container for how often each one hits and what it costs.
By port
Among the 10 published ports and rail hubs with enough door-delivered shipments, charges beyond the ocean freight were the largest share of the bill at Long Beach (54.9%) and the smallest at Omaha (13.7%). At inland rail hubs the ocean freight line usually includes the rail leg, which makes the freight a larger part of the bill.
Share of the bill beyond ocean freight, by port
Door-delivered shipments, all bills at each port combined
Dashed rule: all ports, 24.9%.
| Port or rail hub | Share of bill | Median shipment | Per $1 of freight | Other > freight | Kinds of charge | 10+ kinds | Shipments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Beach | 54.9% | 47.9% | 122¢ | 48.9% | 9 | 38.1% | 121 |
| Los Angeles | 48.6% | 43.0% | 94¢ | 36.5% | 9 | 33.5% | 349 |
| New York / New Jersey | 32.1% | 30.9% | 47¢ | 17.3% | 8 | 23.5% | 279 |
| Houston | 26.5% | 25.7% | 36¢ | under 3.3% | 8 | 30.6% | 152 |
| Savannah | 24.5% | 27.6% | 33¢ | 5.3% | 5 | 12.2% | 115 |
| Tampa | 22.4% | 20.2% | 29¢ | under 6.4% | 8 | 23.1% | 78 |
| Miami | 21.1% | 20.6% | 27¢ | 3.1% | 10 | 63.2% | 582 |
| Minneapolis / St. Paul | 19.3% | 16.0% | 24¢ | 3.8% | 8 | 11.4% | 525 |
| Chicago | 18.7% | 18.0% | 23¢ | 1.3% | 8 | 13.7% | 617 |
| Omaha | 13.7% | 11.1% | 16¢ | — | 7 | — | 549 |
| All ports in the data | 24.9% | 22.1% | 33¢ | 6.1% | 8 | 22.3% | 5,450 |
How many kinds of charge a bill carries
The median door-delivered shipment was billed 8 kinds of charge across its invoices, and 1 in 10 was billed 10 or more; 22.3% carried 10 kinds or more. A quote that lists only the ocean freight and the delivery leaves most of them for the invoice.
Definitions and caveats
- Which shipments
- Door-delivered shipments: the invoices carry both the ocean freight and the delivery trucking, so the bill covers the move from origin port to the importer's door.
- The bill
- Every charge on the shipment's invoices except duties and government fees and taxes (MPF, HMF), which pass through to the government, and a few internal or unclassified lines.
- Share beyond freight
- Charges other than the ocean freight line, as a share of the bill. The headline share combines all bills, importer-weighted; the median and 90th percentile are per shipment.
- Per $1 of freight
- Charges other than the ocean freight line for each $1 of ocean freight, in cents.
- Kinds of charge
- Distinct kinds of charge on the bill, such as ocean freight, customs entry, trucking, chassis, demurrage. A charge renamed during the period counts once.
- Parts of the bill
- Delivery trucking is drayage or LTL/FTL delivery, fuel and base chassis rental. Accessorial fees are the fees this site tracks except base chassis and wharfage. Other charges are customs filing, handling, terminal, warehouse and the rest.
- The ocean freight line can include some destination services, so the non-freight shares are a floor.
- At inland rail hubs the ocean freight line usually includes the rail leg, which makes the freight a larger part of those bills.
- The shares move with ocean freight rates: when freight rates spike, the non-freight share falls even if no fee changed.
- No importer carries more than 25% of the weight behind any figure, and a port needs door-delivered shipments from at least 10 importers. See the methodology.
Questions
What share of an import freight bill is fees beyond the ocean freight?
In Freight Benchmarks' invoice data, charges other than the ocean freight line were 24.9% of the bill for door-delivered US import container shipments first invoiced July 2024 to June 2026. For the median shipment it was 22.1%, and for 1 in 10 shipments it was over 42.1%.
How much do importers pay on top of each dollar of ocean freight?
33 cents for every $1 of ocean freight across all door-delivered shipments, and 28 cents for the median shipment. On 6.1% of shipments, the other charges added up to more than the ocean freight itself.
How many different charges are on a typical import container bill?
The median door-delivered shipment was billed 8 different kinds of charge, such as ocean freight, customs entry, trucking, chassis and port fees, and 22.3% of shipments carried 10 kinds or more.
How do inland rail hubs change the share?
When a container moves inland by rail under the ocean bill of lading, the ocean freight line usually includes the rail leg, so the freight is a larger part of the bill and everything else a smaller part.
Do these shares include customs duties?
No. Duties and government fees such as MPF and HMF pass through to the government and are left out of the bill, so the shares compare logistics charges only.
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