How much do freight forwarders charge?
There is no standard price list. Here is what makes up a forwarding bill, what drives the total, and how to compare quotes so the cheapest one does not end up costing more.
Updated
In this guide
The short version
A forwarder earns a margin on the freight it buys from carriers, plus handling and documentation fees. Your bill is the main freight plus charges at origin and destination, surcharges, and customs and delivery costs. The total depends on the mode, the Incoterm, the weight or volume, the lane, the season and the goods. Compare quotes only when they cover the same job.
How do freight forwarders make money?
A forwarder buys space from ocean lines, airlines, railways and trucking companies and sells it to you with a margin built in. It also charges fees for its own work: booking, documents and coordinating the hand-offs. Some forwarders fold everything into one number. Others show each fee.
Third-party costs, such as terminal charges, pass through on the same invoice. When the forwarder or the customs broker pays duties and taxes on your behalf, they bill them back, sometimes with a disbursement fee.
What is on an ocean or air freight bill?
Names vary by forwarder and carrier, but most bills group into the same parts. You will not see every line on every shipment.
At origin
- Pickup and export handling. Collecting the goods from the supplier and preparing them for export, documents included.
- Origin terminal charges. The port or airport terminal's charge for handling the container or cargo before it is loaded.
The main freight
- Ocean or air freight. The carrier's charge for the main leg: per container for FCL, and by weight or volume for LCL and air.
- Fuel and other surcharges. Bunker surcharges on ocean and fuel surcharges on air, plus general rate increases, peak season surcharges and currency adjustment factors. They move with the market and are often quoted apart from the base rate.
At destination
- Destination terminal handling. The terminal's charge for unloading and handling the container or cargo on arrival.
- CFS or devanning for LCL. The container freight station's charge for unloading a shared container and sorting your cargo from everyone else's.
- Delivery order and documentation fees. Charges for releasing the cargo to you or your trucker, and for the paperwork that goes with it.
- Rail and ramp charges. For containers that move inland by rail, the rail leg to a GTA ramp such as CN Brampton or CPKC Vaughan, and any charges at the ramp.
Customs and delivery
- Customs entry fee. The customs broker's charge for filing the entry.
- Duties and GST. Owed to the CBSA and set by the tariff classification, origin and value of the goods.
- Delivery or drayage. The truck from the port, ramp or airport to your door.
- Insurance. Cargo insurance, if you buy it, priced on the insured value.
- Storage, demurrage or detention. Charges that start when free time runs out: storage at the terminal or ramp, demurrage for a full container that sits there too long, and detention for an empty returned late.
What makes a forwarding quote higher or lower?
Two shipments that look alike can price very differently. These are the usual reasons.
- Mode. Air is priced for speed and ocean for volume, so the same cargo can cost very different amounts by each.
- Incoterm. It sets which charges are yours. Under EXW you pay for almost everything from the supplier's door. Under DDP the seller pays through to your door, duties included.
- Chargeable weight or volume. Air and LCL are billed on the greater of the actual weight and a weight worked out from the volume. For FCL, the container size and how well you fill it matter.
- Lane and routing. Busy trade lanes, direct or transshipped services, and the port or ramp the cargo moves through all change the price.
- Season. Rates and surcharges rise in peak season and before holidays at origin, such as the weeks before Lunar New Year.
- Commodity and special handling. Dangerous goods, temperature control, high value and fragile cargo all add handling and paperwork.
- How quickly documents and answers come back. A late commercial invoice, a missing permit or a slow answer to a broker's question causes delays, and delays bring storage and demurrage.
How do I compare freight forwarder quotes?
Two quotes are only comparable when they cover the same job. Before you look at the totals, check these.
- Same Incoterm and scope. Both quotes start and end at the same points, door or port, and include or exclude the same services.
- All destination charges included. Terminal handling, CFS, delivery order and documentation fees, and delivery to your door are where low quotes often fall short.
- Validity. Ocean and air rates change often. A quote may hold only for a set period or a specific sailing.
- Currency. Some charges are quoted in US dollars and some in Canadian dollars, and the exchange rate moves between the quote and the invoice.
- What is excluded. Duties and GST, the customs entry, insurance, storage, inspections and waiting time are often listed as extras.
Use the Incoterms picker to confirm who pays for each leg, the chargeable weight calculator to see the weight you will be billed on, the container load calculator to see how many pallets fit, and the duty and tax calculator to estimate duties and GST.
Why can the lowest quote end up costing more?
A low quote often leaves out charges that arrive later on the invoice: destination terminal handling, CFS fees, the delivery order, or the drayage to your door. It may depend on space the carrier rolls to a later sailing when demand is high. Delays cost too: a container that waits for missing documents or an unbooked truck runs up storage and demurrage that can outweigh any saving on the freight.
Ask each forwarder what could appear on the final invoice that is not on the quote. A clear answer is worth more than a low number.
Get a firm rate for your shipment
Setara Logistics is a freight forwarder in Vaughan, Ontario. Tell us what you are shipping, where it starts and ends, the Incoterm, and the weight and dimensions. Send us the details and we'll come back with a firm rate. Request a quote.
Frequently asked
What is included in a freight forwarding quote?
It depends on the Incoterm and the scope. A door-to-door quote covers origin pickup and handling, the main freight and surcharges, destination terminal and documentation charges, the customs entry and delivery. Duties, taxes, insurance and storage are often listed separately.
Why do ocean freight surcharges change?
Surcharges track costs the carrier does not fix in the base rate. Bunker surcharges follow fuel prices, currency adjustments follow exchange rates, and general rate increases and peak season surcharges follow demand on the lane.
What is chargeable weight?
For air freight and LCL, you pay on whichever is greater, the actual weight or a weight worked out from the volume. Light, bulky cargo is billed on its volume. Our chargeable weight calculator works it out for you.
Who pays demurrage and detention?
Usually the importer, since these charges start after arrival. Demurrage builds while a full container waits at the port or ramp past its free time, and detention builds when the container stays out past its allowed days before the empty goes back. Your forwarder should confirm free time on each booking.
Are duties and GST part of the forwarder's charge?
No. Duties and GST are owed to the CBSA. The customs broker pays them on your behalf and bills them back, or you pay them directly. They are set by the tariff classification, origin and value of the goods, not by the forwarder.
Last reviewed: September 2026. General information, not legal or customs advice.
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