Freight Rates Explained: What Impacts Shipping Costs?

Let’s get real. Ship­ping isn’t cheap, and it nev­er just “hap­pens.” Behind every box is a jun­gle of num­bers. Freight rates? They’re the Tarzan swing­ing through that jun­gle. If you don’t know what dri­ves those rates, you’ll either over­pay or get stuck in a ware­house rab­bit hole.

So, what exact­ly affects your ship­ping cost?

We’re unpack­ing it—without sug­ar­coat­ing any­thing.

If you’ve ever looked at two quotes for the same load and won­dered why one is high­er than your month­ly cof­fee tab, you’re not alone. Freight rates don’t just rely on dis­tance and weight. They spin on a roulette wheel of vari­ables.

And yes, some of those vari­ables love to sneak in unin­vit­ed.

1. Distance (Duh, but also… not so duh)

Longer hauls usu­al­ly mean high­er costs. But it’s not lin­ear. Ship­ping from Dal­las to Den­ver might cost more than Dal­las to Chica­go. Why? Some lanes are hot; oth­ers are ice cold.

Car­ri­er den­si­ty, demand, and region­al weird­ness all weigh in.

2. Weight and Volume: Bulk Isn’t Always Better

Ever tried to fit a couch into a Prius? Car­ri­ers feel the same when your ship­ment is bulky and awk­ward.

They charge based on dimen­sion­al weight or actu­al weight—whichever hurts more.

Pro tip: Small­er box­es, tighter pack­ag­ing, few­er tears.

3. Fuel Surcharges: The Wild Card

Fuel prices are like tod­dlers on sugar—volatile and unpre­dictable. One week you’re fine, next week you’re broke.

Car­ri­ers often slap a sur­charge to off­set price hikes. Can you blame them? Prob­a­bly. But it’s still going on your invoice.

4. Freight Class and NMFC Codes

This one’s juicy. The Nation­al Motor Freight Clas­si­fi­ca­tion sys­tem ranks freight based on den­si­ty, stowa­bil­i­ty, han­dling, and lia­bil­i­ty.

Class 50 = cheap. Class 500 = start cry­ing.

If your team mis­clas­si­fies freight, you’re set­ting mon­ey on fire.

5. Accessorial Charges: Death by a Thousand Cuts

Lift­gate ser­vice? Res­i­den­tial deliv­ery? Lim­it­ed access loca­tions?

Each one is anoth­er line item.

You won’t notice them until it’s too late and you’re five Red Bulls deep explain­ing charges to account­ing.

Peak Season Mayhem

Ship­ping in Novem­ber? So is every­one else. That means lim­it­ed trucks and pre­mi­um rates. It’s Black Fri­day for freight—and you’re foot­ing the bill.

Weather and Natural Disasters

Rain, snow, hur­ri­canes. Logis­tics hates sur­pris­es. Bad weath­er reroutes freight and racks up costs. If you’re ship­ping in win­ter, add a few bucks and a few prayers.

Lanes and Backhauls

Some lanes are full of out­bound freight but emp­ty on the return trip. That return trip (back­haul) needs fill­ing, or you’ll pay a pre­mi­um.

Under­stand­ing the lane eco­nom­ics? It’s called trans­porta­tion man­age­ment, and it’s not just for MBAs.

1. Know Your Metrics

Don’t just accept a rate. Track it. What did you pay last time? What changed?

Use your TMS, your spread­sheets, your dog’s notebook—whatever works. But know your base­line.

2. Build Carrier Relationships

Play favorites. Seri­ous­ly. Long-term rela­tion­ships mean bet­ter ser­vice, bet­ter prices, and few­er unpleas­ant sur­pris­es.

Car­ri­ers like reli­a­bil­i­ty. So do your books.

3. Consolidate Freight

Half-full trucks are wast­ed mon­ey. Com­bine loads. Ship smarter.

One truck instead of three. You’re wel­come.

4. Automate Quoting and Booking

Stop email­ing five bro­kers and wait­ing three days. Get tech that quotes auto­mat­i­cal­ly, com­pares, and books in min­utes.

If you’re using trans­porta­tion man­age­ment sys­tems (TMS), you know what I mean. If not, start here.

Anchoring and Rate Expectations

Ever get quot­ed $800 and think, “That’s not so bad,” just because you expect­ed $1200?

That’s anchor­ing. And it works both ways. Know what rates should look like, or pre­pare to get fleeced.

The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)

Some ship­pers over­pay just to get a truck faster. It’s a trap.

Unless your freight is ice cream in July, wait for the best quote.

It’s Not Just for Enterprises

Small busi­ness­es, lis­ten up. Man­ag­ing freight effi­cient­ly isn’t a lux­u­ry. It’s sur­vival.

Use trans­porta­tion man­age­ment soft­ware. Or, get a freight bro­ker that actu­al­ly knows what they’re doing.

(Shame­less plug: We do. And we don’t ghost you after onboard­ing.)

Use Data, Not Vibes

Gut feel­ings are great for Tin­der. Ter­ri­ble for freight.

Rely on data—carrier per­for­mance, rate his­to­ry, on-time deliv­ery stats. Deci­sions should be spread­sheet-backed.

*Mention volume. Carriers love repeat business.

* Know your lane. Talk like you’ve been there.

*Be flex­i­ble. Can your freight move at 2PM instead of 10AM? You’ll save $$$.

Ship­ping cost fac­tors are every­where. Some are fair. Oth­ers are ridicu­lous. But all of them are beat­able with the right game plan.

So next time some­one says, “That’s just how the mar­ket is,” smile polite­ly.

Then go slash your ship­ping bill in half.

Ref­er­ence: Maer­sk: 7 Fac­tors Affect­ing Ship­ping Costs