Lumper
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Definition
A lumper is a third party worker or crew that loads or unloads a trailer at a facility, and the lumper fee is what they charge to do it.
Lumpers are common at grocery and retail distribution centers, where drivers are not permitted to handle freight themselves.
How it works in practice
The driver arrives, the facility requires a lumper, and the driver pays by cash, Comchek or fuel card, then submits the receipt for reimbursement. Fees vary by facility and load size and are rarely posted anywhere in advance.
The driver has no realistic option to decline. The freight does not come off otherwise.
The reimbursement gap
Lumper fees are almost always reimbursable by the broker. The friction is that reimbursement requires a receipt, submitted with the invoice and referencing the right load, and receipts get lost, photographed badly, or submitted after the invoice has already gone.
The fee itself is not the cost. The cost is the driver fronting money the carrier then fails to reclaim, a small amount that keeps happening.
Establish it at booking
Ask two questions before accepting a load into a facility likely to use lumpers: is there a lumper fee, and who pays it. Getting both into the rate confirmation turns a reimbursement argument into a line item.
Related terms
Accessorials · Detention · FCFS · BOL
Frequently asked questions
A charge from third party workers who load or unload a trailer, common at grocery and retail distribution centers.
The driver usually pays on site and the broker reimburses, provided the terms were agreed and a receipt is submitted.
It varies by facility and load. Ask before accepting a load into a facility that uses lumpers.
Generally not. Where a facility requires one, the freight is not unloaded otherwise.
Hey Bubba! confirms lumper obligations before booking and attaches them to the load. See how
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