Freight Tender

TLKSource Sample Co · TLKS-2026-0041 · 16/05/2026

Executive summary. TLKSource Sample Co is spending approximately $895k annually with Toll Group across five primary lanes, with a fuel adjustment factor (FAF) that has escalated from 5.96% to 7.10% over three months (19% relative increase) against a diesel index that moved materially less in the same window. Three structural issues weaken the customer's position going into tender: an opaque FAF with no published index or cap, accessorial leakage (residential, tail-lift, re-delivery, demurrage) running at ~25% of linehaul, and invoiced unit rates that diverge from the published rate card on multiple lanes. These are the leverage points the RFP must force bidders to answer.

Headline findings

Finding	Severity	Cost exposure
FAF escalating with no disclosed formula	high	$38,000
FAF on Toll invoices moved from 5.96% (Jan, $890.25) to 6.57% (Feb, $1,024.50) to 7.10% (Mar, $1,187.00) — a 19% relative increase in 90 days. The rate card (Toll_Rate_Schedule_FY25.md) does not publish the FAF formula, base diesel price, index reference, or cap. AIP terminal gate diesel moved approximately 3-4% over the same window, so the FAF is escalating disproportionately to the underlying fuel cost.
Invoiced rates diverge from rate card	high	$45,000
Sydney–Perth carton invoiced at $109.64 (Jan), $108.82 (Feb), $100.65 (Mar) per carton, while the rate card lists a $145 consignment minimum and $0.58/kg — without manifest weights it is not possible to confirm the invoiced rate is correct. Sydney–Brisbane pallet invoiced at $204.27 (Jan), $213.13 (Feb), $152.23 (Mar) — a 28% drop month-on-month with no rate card change, indicating either undisclosed weight-break logic or inconsistent rating. Sydney–Adelaide pallet shows the same volatility ($185.84 → $150.13 → $159.67).
Accessorial leakage at 25% of linehaul	medium	$28,000
Residential delivery volumes are growing (52 → 68 → 75 deliveries/month at $12.50 each) and tail-lift surcharges are growing (18 → 22 → 28 at $28). Combined accessorial spend (residential, tail-lift, re-delivery, demurrage, card fee) reached $2,374 in March against ~$5,328 of linehaul — 44% accessorial-to-linehaul ratio. The rate card permits each line, but no caps, no volume tiers, and no DIFOT-linked rebates exist on demurrage or re-delivery.
Failed-delivery costs not attributed	medium	$12,000
March invoice shows 5 re-delivery fees ($475) and February shows 3 demurrage instances ($540). Neither invoice attributes root cause (carrier-caused vs consignee-caused vs sender-caused). With no DIFOT reporting in the contract pack, the customer cannot determine whether they are paying for carrier service failures. Annualised, this is approximately $12k of unattributed failure cost.
Card fee pass-through is uncapped	low	$2,000
Card payment fee invoiced at $142 (Jan), $165 (Feb), $178 (Mar) — a 25% increase tracking invoice value. Rate card permits 1.85% pass-through, but this is applied to GST-inclusive totals including surcharges, compounding the effective rate. Annualised exposure ~$2k; small in absolute terms but structurally avoidable via EFT/direct debit.

Finding

Severity

Cost exposure

FAF escalating with no disclosed formula

high

$38,000

FAF on Toll invoices moved from 5.96% (Jan, $890.25) to 6.57% (Feb, $1,024.50) to 7.10% (Mar, $1,187.00) — a 19% relative increase in 90 days. The rate card (Toll_Rate_Schedule_FY25.md) does not publish the FAF formula, base diesel price, index reference, or cap. AIP terminal gate diesel moved approximately 3-4% over the same window, so the FAF is escalating disproportionately to the underlying fuel cost.

Invoiced rates diverge from rate card

high

$45,000

Sydney–Perth carton invoiced at $109.64 (Jan), $108.82 (Feb), $100.65 (Mar) per carton, while the rate card lists a $145 consignment minimum and $0.58/kg — without manifest weights it is not possible to confirm the invoiced rate is correct. Sydney–Brisbane pallet invoiced at $204.27 (Jan), $213.13 (Feb), $152.23 (Mar) — a 28% drop month-on-month with no rate card change, indicating either undisclosed weight-break logic or inconsistent rating. Sydney–Adelaide pallet shows the same volatility ($185.84 → $150.13 → $159.67).

Accessorial leakage at 25% of linehaul

medium

$28,000

Residential delivery volumes are growing (52 → 68 → 75 deliveries/month at $12.50 each) and tail-lift surcharges are growing (18 → 22 → 28 at $28). Combined accessorial spend (residential, tail-lift, re-delivery, demurrage, card fee) reached $2,374 in March against ~$5,328 of linehaul — 44% accessorial-to-linehaul ratio. The rate card permits each line, but no caps, no volume tiers, and no DIFOT-linked rebates exist on demurrage or re-delivery.

Failed-delivery costs not attributed

medium

$12,000

March invoice shows 5 re-delivery fees ($475) and February shows 3 demurrage instances ($540). Neither invoice attributes root cause (carrier-caused vs consignee-caused vs sender-caused). With no DIFOT reporting in the contract pack, the customer cannot determine whether they are paying for carrier service failures. Annualised, this is approximately $12k of unattributed failure cost.

Card fee pass-through is uncapped

low

$2,000

Card payment fee invoiced at $142 (Jan), $165 (Feb), $178 (Mar) — a 25% increase tracking invoice value. Rate card permits 1.85% pass-through, but this is applied to GST-inclusive totals including surcharges, compounding the effective rate. Annualised exposure ~$2k; small in absolute terms but structurally avoidable via EFT/direct debit.

Market benchmark

Line item	Current	Market range	Verdict	Source
Sydney–Melbourne carton (avg per consignment)	$40	$32–$44	in_range	StarTrack Road Express Q1 2025 published tariff and Linfox indicative carton rates
Sydney–Brisbane pallet (avg per pallet)	$190	$155–$210	in_range	Linfox pallet network Q1 2025 indicative; AFGC 2024 freight survey east-coast pallet median
Sydney–Perth carton (avg per consignment)	$106	$85–$115	in_range	Toll/StarTrack east-west published Q1 2025; AFGC 2024 transcontinental survey
FAF percentage (March)	$7	$5–$7	above_market	AIP terminal gate diesel index Q1 2025 vs published FAF tables from Toll/StarTrack/Linfox
Residential delivery surcharge	$13	$7–$14	in_range	StarTrack residential surcharge published Q1 2025; Aramex/CouriersPlease comparable
Tail-lift surcharge	$28	$18–$35	in_range	Linfox and Toll published accessorial schedules Q1 2025
Demurrage per consignment	$180	$90–$150	above_market	AFGC freight accessorial benchmark 2024; Linfox published demurrage Q1 2025
Re-delivery fee	$95	$35–$75	above_market	StarTrack/CouriersPlease published re-delivery Q1 2025

Line item

Current

Market range

Verdict

Source

Sydney–Melbourne carton (avg per consignment)

$40

$32–$44

in_range

StarTrack Road Express Q1 2025 published tariff and Linfox indicative carton rates

Sydney–Brisbane pallet (avg per pallet)

$190

$155–$210

in_range

Linfox pallet network Q1 2025 indicative; AFGC 2024 freight survey east-coast pallet median

Sydney–Perth carton (avg per consignment)

$106

$85–$115

in_range

Toll/StarTrack east-west published Q1 2025; AFGC 2024 transcontinental survey

FAF percentage (March)

$7

$5–$7

above_market

AIP terminal gate diesel index Q1 2025 vs published FAF tables from Toll/StarTrack/Linfox

Residential delivery surcharge

$13

$7–$14

in_range

StarTrack residential surcharge published Q1 2025; Aramex/CouriersPlease comparable

Tail-lift surcharge

$28

$18–$35

in_range

Linfox and Toll published accessorial schedules Q1 2025

Demurrage per consignment

$180

$90–$150

above_market

AFGC freight accessorial benchmark 2024; Linfox published demurrage Q1 2025

Re-delivery fee

$95

$35–$75

above_market

StarTrack/CouriersPlease published re-delivery Q1 2025

Red flags

Fuel Adjustment Factor (not published in rate card): No formula, base price, index reference, review cadence, or cap is disclosed. The FAF has moved from 5.96% to 7.10% (19% relative) in three months against a diesel index moving 3-4%. Without a contractual mechanism the customer has no audit basis. → RFP must require bidders to publish their FAF formula tied to a named public index (AIP TGP or ABS Road Freight Index), with a monthly review cadence, a stated base price, and a hard ceiling. We recommend reviewing the existing contract clause governing fuel with legal counsel.

Demurrage and re-delivery (rate card lines): Both are uncapped per-instance charges with no root-cause attribution requirement. Carrier-caused failures are invoiced to the customer with no offset. → RFP must require root-cause coding on every accessorial, a DIFOT-linked credit mechanism (e.g. carrier-caused re-deliveries are credited), and a monthly cap on demurrage tied to DIFOT performance.

Card payment fee (1.85% pass-through): Pass-through applied to GST-inclusive totals including surcharges, compounding cost. No EFT alternative documented. → RFP must require EFT/direct debit as the default payment method with no fee, and if card is offered the pass-through must apply only to the ex-GST linehaul subtotal.

Rate card vs invoice variance: Invoiced unit rates on Sydney–Brisbane and Sydney–Adelaide pallet lanes vary by 20-28% month-to-month with no documented weight-break trigger. The customer cannot reconcile invoices to rate card without manifest weights. → RFP must require line-item-level rating transparency: each invoice line must show chargeable weight, weight-break tier applied, and rate-card reference. We recommend reviewing the existing rating clause with legal counsel.

Negotiation playbook

1. Issue RFP requiring bidders to quote FAF as a formula tied to AIP TGP diesel with a stated base, monthly true-up, and 6.5% ceiling
Locks fuel exposure to a public index and prevents the 19%-in-90-days drift observed on current invoices. Removes the largest source of uncontrolled cost. — Target: FAF ceiling 6.5%, base price disclosed, monthly review tied to AIP TGP — saving $25-35k annualised against current trajectory.

2. Mandate DIFOT reporting and a DIFOT-linked rebate in the RFP scoring matrix
Currently there is no service-level mechanism. Re-delivery and demurrage costs are invoiced without attribution, meaning carrier failures are paid by the customer. — Target: DIFOT ≥97% with monthly reporting; failures below threshold trigger 2-5% linehaul rebate; carrier-caused re-deliveries credited at 100%.

3. Require all bidders to quote accessorials as a capped schedule with volume tiers
Residential and tail-lift volumes are growing 44% and 56% across three months. Without volume tiers the per-unit cost never declines despite predictable volume. — Target: Residential surcharge tiered (e.g. $12.50 → $9 above 60/month → $7 above 100/month); tail-lift capped at $22 with volume rebate.

4. Require rate-card-level invoice transparency as a contractual obligation
Current invoices cannot be reconciled to the rate card without manifest weights. This blocks audit and weakens negotiation in any future review. — Target: Every invoice line shows chargeable weight, weight break, rate card reference, and FAF calculation — enabling monthly reconciliation.

5. Split tender — primary carrier for east-coast lanes, specialist for Sydney–Perth
Sydney–Perth represents the largest single-lane spend (~$25k/month, ~33% of outbound). A dedicated east-west bidder (e.g. SCT, Aurizon-linked) typically prices 10-15% below national carriers on this lane. — Target: Sydney–Perth carton at $90-95 per consignment (down from $106 average) — $30-40k annualised saving.

6. Move payment to EFT and remove card fee from scope
Card fee is rising with invoice value; structurally avoidable with no operational impact. — Target: $2k annualised saving; cleaner invoice base.

Independent of every Australian 3PL. No carrier or 3PL kickbacks.
TLKSource · hello@tlksource.com.au