Supplemental Charges - Overview

In a recent update the supplemental charges were changed adding new functionality. The supplemental charges functionality is designed to provide a flexible and accurate method to add charges to tariffs, carriers and customers.

How are they applied?

Supplemental Charges are applied at hierarchal levels that can be specified independently at each level based on the requirements of the pricing model.  The hierarchy will use the first item in the list. It will take precedence over the lower items and ignore them. For example if a charge (billed side) is set in #1 (on the tariff) then #3 (the carrier settings) will be ignored.

Supplemental charges are applied differently for the cost and the billed. Following are the rules.

Cost

1. Carrier Tariff Supplemental Charges - Set on the tariff profile
2. Carrier Supplemental Charges - Set on the carrier profile
3. Default Supplemental Charges - Set from the homepage

Billed

1. Customer Tariff Supplemental Charges - Set on the tariff profile
2. Customer Supplemental Charges - Set on the customer profile
3. Carrier Supplemental Charges - Set on the carrier profile
4. Global Supplemental Charges - Set from the homepage

How are they calculated?

Once we know what line item to look at the charges are calculated using the type setting. Usually this is set to Flat rate or percent. There is also an option to set a max and min amount. These are used to add upper and lower limits to the amounts being calculated (they don't apply to flat dollar). To use these calculation methods the value (ie pieces or pallets) must be entered on the shipment.

Following is a list of all the possible calculation methods.

• Flat Dollar - This is just a flat dollar amount
• Percentage - This is a percentage of the base Shipping cost (fuel and supp charges are not included)
• CWT - This will be a amount per 100 pounds of freight. This amount is multiplied by the weight.
• Mileage - Multiplied by the total miles of the shipment
• Pieces - Multiplied by the total number of pieces for the shipment.
• Pallets - Multiplied by the total number of pallets for the shipment.
• % Ship Value - Calculated as a percentage of the shipment value.
• % COD Amount - Calculated as a percentage of the COD Amount.
• Waived - This indicates that there is no charge for this service.

How else can they be calculated? What if there is more than one tier?

Not all supplemental charges can be calculated. For example if inside delivery has a different cost per hundred weight when the shipment weight is 2000 lbs we will not be able to program that charge. To solve this issue there is a notes field for each charge. The notes are displayed on the LCR screen to let you know additional information for this charge. The hierarchy listed above also applies to the notes.

When are they required? When are they hidden?

The display setting for the charges are used to determine both when the customer should see the charge and when a charge is required by the customer or carrier.

On the customer page and global page there is an option to allow a charge to be 'Not Selectable' and 'Hidden'. Both options will hide the charge from the customers when they are creating an order. This is a great way to reduce the number of options available for selection on the customer quote page.

'Hidden' adds additional functionality. If the billed side of the charge is set to zero this item will not be displayed to the customer (shipment detail page, invoice and quote). The item will be displayed on the BOL since the carrier will have access to the document.

If a charge is set to 'required' at the carrier level and hidden at the customer level it will still be added to the shipment.

What is the Sales Code?

The sales code is a link to the accounting system. By default the sales code is TRANS. If the code is set to anything else the accounting system must have the EXACT sales code (or item) setup. Changing the sales code allows for the charges to be categorized into different GL accounts.