By Cargo Taxi Deliveries · Published October 12, 2026
Los Angeles freight is priced from four things: the vehicle class required, the distance, the service speed, and the accessorials the job needs. A local same-day courier run starts around $30 to $60; a 26ft box truck with twelve pallets runs a base charge plus a per-mile rate that declines with distance, typically $4 to $10 per mile.
The four things that actually set the price
Freight pricing looks opaque from outside and is not. Four inputs do almost all the work, and anyone quoting you should be able to name them.
The first is the vehicle class. A document in a sedan and twelve pallets in a 26ft box truck are different businesses with different cost structures, and the base charge reflects the cost of putting that specific vehicle and driver on the road at all. The second is distance, but not linearly — a per-mile rate that is right at five miles is ruinous at five hundred, because the fixed cost of dispatching the truck is spread across more miles. That is why rates are quoted as a declining curve rather than a single number.
The third is service speed. Standard, same-day, expedited and scheduled are not degrees of effort, they are different commitments of the asset. An expedited job takes a truck out of general availability and frequently makes it deadhead to reach the pickup. The fourth is accessorials — the equipment and labour the job needs beyond driving, which is where two quotes for the same lane most often diverge.
| Input | What it means | Typical effect |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle class | Sedan, Sprinter, 26ft box, 26ft flatbed | Sets the base charge |
| Distance | Loaded miles, on a declining curve | Sets the variable charge |
| Service speed | Standard, same-day, expedited, scheduled | Multiplier on the whole job |
| Accessorials | Liftgate, inside, residential, temp, hazmat | Fixed add-ons per item |
Why per-mile rates decline with distance
Every freight movement has a fixed cost that happens whether the truck goes five miles or five hundred: the dispatch, the driver's time loading and unloading, the positioning of the vehicle, and the paperwork. On a five-mile run that fixed cost is spread across five miles and the effective per-mile rate looks enormous. On a five-hundred-mile run the same fixed cost is almost invisible and the rate approaches the true marginal cost of fuel, wear and driver hours.
This is why a rate card for freight is a curve rather than a number, and why a carrier quoting a flat per-mile rate for every distance is either overcharging short runs or losing money on long ones. It is also why consolidating several short runs into one routed trip is usually cheaper than booking them separately — the fixed cost is paid once.
| Distance band | 26ft box truck, indicative $/mile |
|---|---|
| First 5 miles | ~$10 |
| To 25 miles | ~$9 |
| To 50 miles | ~$8 |
| To 100 miles | ~$6 |
| To 200 miles | ~$5.20 |
| To 500 miles | ~$4.50 |
| Beyond 500 miles | ~$4 |
Accessorials: where quotes really differ
Two carriers quoting the same lane will usually land close on the line haul and far apart on everything else. Accessorials are the charges for work that is not driving, and the reason they cause disputes is that they are frequently discovered at the dock rather than discussed at booking.
The common ones: a liftgate where the consignee has no dock; a pallet jack to move freight inside; a residential delivery, which takes longer and carries more risk than a commercial one; inside delivery and placement rather than tailgate; a two-person carry for anything heavy or awkward; a signature or proof of delivery requirement; temperature control; hazmat handling; and weekend or after-hours work.
The way to avoid a surprise is to describe the destination honestly at booking. Is there a dock? Is there a forklift? Is there anybody there to receive, and between what hours? Is it a house? Are there stairs? A carrier that does not ask these questions is not being efficient, it is deferring the conversation to the moment when you have the least leverage.
| Accessorial | Why it costs | Indicative |
|---|---|---|
| Liftgate (per end) | Equipment and cycle time | $75 |
| Pallet jack | Equipment and labour | $50 |
| Residential delivery | Access, time, risk | $60 |
| Inside delivery | Labour beyond the tailgate | $95 |
| Two-person carry | A second person | $150 |
| Temperature controlled | Fuel, equipment, pre-cool | $120 |
| Hazmat handling | Endorsement, placarding, paperwork | $200 |
| Weekend / after hours | Premium labour | $100 |
What a real quote should ask you
A quote that arrives without questions is a quote that will change. Before committing to a number, a dispatcher should know: what the freight is and what it weighs; how it is packaged and whether it is palletized; the pickup and delivery addresses, and what kind of place each is; whether there is a dock and a forklift at each end; the window at each end; whether anything about it is regulated, temperature-sensitive or unusually valuable; and when it actually has to be there.
That list is not bureaucracy, it is the price. A pallet going to a warehouse with a dock and a forklift is a different job from the same pallet going to a house on a hill with a flight of steps, and a quote that does not distinguish them is a quote that is wrong for one of them.
When expedited is the cheap option
Expedited freight is priced well above standard and is routinely the cheapest line on the page. The comparison that matters is not expedited against standard freight; it is expedited against the cost of being late. A stopped production line costs thousands an hour. A missed trade show move-in costs the entire show. A customer chargeback for a late delivery frequently exceeds the whole freight bill for the year.
Where that arithmetic applies, the only question worth asking is how soon a truck can be rolling, and spending an extra few hundred dollars to avoid a five-figure consequence is not an expense, it is the obvious move. Where it does not apply — where a day either way genuinely does not matter — standard service is the right answer and a carrier should say so.