Lumper Fees: Who Pays and How to Get Reimbursed

A lumper is a third-party worker, or a crew from an unloading company, who unloads your trailer at a warehouse or distribution center. Grocery and food DCs use them the most. You usually pay at the dock, and then you have to get that money back from the broker or shipper. The fee itself is rarely the problem. Getting reimbursed is.

Who is supposed to pay

Federal law puts it on the shipper or receiver who wants the help. Under 49 U.S.C. 14103(a), whenever a shipper or receiver requires that a truck be assisted in loading or unloading, it has to either provide that assistance or compensate the owner or operator for all the costs of securing and paying the people who do it. Section 14103(b) makes it unlawful to coerce, or try to coerce, a driver into loading or unloading the freight, or into hiring and paying someone to do it.

What that looks like at the dock: the facility won't let you unload yourself, a lumper service does it, you pay them with a Comchek, EFS check, or card, and the broker reimburses you when you invoice the load. The broker bills it back to their customer. That's why the receipt matters so much. It's the paper that moves through all three companies.

If you're leased on to a carrier, check your lease. Under 49 CFR 376.12(e), the lease has to clearly say who is responsible for loading and unloading and what compensation, if any, is paid for it. It also has to spell out who pays for detention and accessorial services. Section 376.12(h) says any item the carrier pays first and then takes out of your settlement has to be listed in the lease, along with how it's computed.

Before you pay

• Read the rate con. Look for a line about lumper: "lumper reimbursed with receipt," a dollar cap, or "call for approval."
• Call or message the broker before paying if the amount is over the cap or there's no lumper line. Get the approval in writing, even if it's a text, and note the time.
• Ask how the broker wants to pay it. Many send a Comchek or EFS code so the money never comes out of your pocket. If they do, it may be an advance that comes off your invoice later instead of a line added to it.

What the receipt needs

Reimbursement comes down to what the broker and their customer will accept. The receipts that get paid without questions show:

• The facility name and location
• The date
• The load number and PO number
• The lumper company, and the worker's name if it's one person
• The amount
• How it was paid, and the Comchek express code, EFS check number, or card authorization
• Pallet and case counts
• A signature from the lumper

If the facility gives you a printed receipt with all of that, use it. If it doesn't, or it's a handwritten note with an amount and nothing else, fill out the lumper receipt generator on your phone and have the lumper sign it on the spot.

Worked example

You deliver 22 pallets (1,216 cases) of canned goods to a grocery DC in Reno. The rate con says "lumper reimbursed with receipt." The lumper service charges $285, and you pay with a Comchek.

• Cost per pallet: $285 ÷ 22 = $12.95
• Cost per case: $285 ÷ 1,216 = $0.234

Those per-unit numbers don't go on the invoice, but they're worth tracking. If the same DC charges you $285 for 22 pallets one week and $450 for 20 pallets the next, you have something to ask about.

On the freight invoice, add a line: "Lumper reimbursement, receipt attached," quantity 1, rate $285.00, amount $285.00. Attach the receipt right behind the signed BOL. If the broker had sent you the Comchek code, so they paid the lumper directly, leave the lumper off your charges or show it and subtract it as an advance, whichever way they tell you. Just don't bill it twice.

When reimbursement stalls

• Missing receipt. Call the facility the same day. Some lumper services can email a copy by load number or Comchek code.
• "Not approved." Send the rate con line or the approval text with the invoice number.
• Short paid. Compare the remittance to your invoice. Brokers sometimes pay the linehaul and hold the accessorials for review. Follow up on the lumper line by itself.

Lumpers and detention often show up on the same load, since you wait while they work. Log your in and out times and run them through the detention pay calculator too.