Lumper fee
A lumper fee is a charge for third-party labor to load or unload a trailer, common at grocery and food distribution warehouses, and normally reimbursed by the broker or shipper.
Last reviewed · by the Fleetchart team
Lumpers are independent crews working at a receiver's dock. The driver typically pays them on arrival, often by a payment code issued by the broker, and is reimbursed afterwards.
The reimbursement is only reliable if the receipt is captured and submitted. A lost lumper receipt is money out of the driver's pocket that never comes back.
Because the money moves out before it moves back in, lumper fees also affect cash flow on food-grade lanes more than the annual totals suggest.
For example, say the driver pays a $350 lumper fee with a payment code, and the broker pays the invoice in 30 days. That $350 is out of the business for about a month. If four loads a week each need a $350 lumper, that is 4 × $350 = $1,400 a week paid out. With a four-week wait, about 4 × $1,400 = $5,600 is owed back to you at any one time.
Lose one receipt and the $350 comes straight off that load's profit. Take a photo of the receipt at the dock and send it in with the signed delivery copy.