A 3PL explains its pricing model by naming each activity it bills, the unit each charge uses, what makes a given client's total rise or fall, and which charges appear only in certain situations. Publishing the rates themselves is a separate business decision. A shipper who understands the structure can compare proposals fairly and read your first invoice without a surprise.
Shippers comparing proposals often find that the providers do not bill in the same units. One charges storage by pallet position, another by cubic foot, a third by bin. One charges per order, another per pick. Without an explanation, the shipper is left to convert between them, and the provider with the clearest structure has an easier conversation than the one with the lowest headline number.
This page is about how to describe pricing in content, not what to charge. Wording that touches contract terms, liability, or minimum commitments belongs with your counsel and your signed agreements. For more on the questions shippers bring to a logistics site, see our logistics industry overview.
Start from an invoice, not a rate card
The most useful source for a pricing page is a real invoice with the client details removed. Walk through it line by line with your billing lead. A rate is not a pricing model, because the rate tells a shipper what one unit costs while the model tells them which units they will generate and why. The page should explain the second thing.
Picture a fictional Oregon warehouse operator that takes a typical monthly invoice for an apparel client and annotates every line in plain language: what activity it covers, how the quantity was counted, and when in the month the count was taken. The annotated invoice becomes the outline for the public page, with all client details and rates replaced by descriptions.
The same walkthrough should cover the invoice itself: how often it is issued, whether storage is billed in advance or in arrears, where postage appears, and how a client questions a line. Those details rarely appear in a proposal, yet they shape the first billing conversation more than any single rate does.
Name the unit behind each charge
Every charge needs its unit and its counting rule stated. The table below shows the kind of detail a pricing page can carry without listing a single rate. The units in it are examples; your page should name the ones your billing system actually uses.
| Activity | Unit to name | What the shipper needs to know |
|---|---|---|
| Receiving | Per hour, per pallet, per carton, or per unit | Whether floor-loaded containers or mixed cartons cost more to receive, and why |
| Storage | Per pallet position, shelf, bin, or cubic foot | When inventory is measured (a set day, or an average) and how partial spaces are counted |
| Pick and pack | Per order, plus per additional item | What counts as an additional item, and whether inserts or gift notes add a line |
| Packaging | Per box, mailer, or material used | Whether the client can supply its own packaging, and what changes if it does |
| Shipping labels | Per shipment | How postage and carrier charges appear on the invoice, stated exactly as your billing team approves |
| Returns | Per return, per unit inspected | What inspection includes and what happens to items that cannot be resold |
Show which factors change the bill
Equal order counts do not produce equal invoices. Order profile, number of SKUs, how fast inventory turns, seasonal swings, and packaging requirements all change the total. Ask your billing lead a simple question: "Which line on our invoices draws the most questions in a client's first two months?" That line deserves its own paragraph on the page, written before a shipper has to call about it.
A short worked description helps here. Without giving rates, the page can show how a shipper selling single-item orders differs from one selling multi-item bundles, or how slow-moving inventory affects the storage line over a year. Keep every example clearly labeled as illustrative.
Consider two fictional brands with similar order counts. One sells a single candle per order in a standard box. The other sells gift sets that need kitting, tissue wrap, and a printed card. Their pick and pack lines differ, their packaging lines differ, and the second brand may carry a kitting charge the first never sees. Explaining that difference in a few sentences tells a shipper which lines to watch for their own business.
Give the occasional charges their own section
Charges that appear only in certain situations cause more friction than the regular ones. Special projects, relabeling, kitting, rush handling, long-term storage of inventory that is not moving, and account setup all belong in a section that says when each applies and how the client is told before it is billed. If you require a monthly minimum, say so on the pricing page and send the reader to the detail on how contract terms and minimums work.
Brokers explain pricing differently
A freight broker's pricing conversation is about the rate per load, how fuel and accessorial charges such as detention are handled, and how quotes are confirmed. As of October 2026, federal rules at 49 CFR 371.3 require a broker to "keep a record of each transaction," including "The amount of compensation received by the broker for the brokerage service performed and the name of the payer," and state that "Each party to a brokered transaction has the right to review" that record. FMCSA proposed amendments to these record rules in November 2024, so the text may change. Bring the current rule to counsel before writing about margin, so the page and your practice describe the same thing.
If you sell warehousing and brokerage under one name, write two pricing explanations, since the units, the parties, and the records are not the same. Our guide to separating freight and fulfillment services walks through that division.
Get the facts from billing, not from a competitor's page
Pricing pages go wrong when the writer fills gaps with whatever another provider published. Your billing team holds the units, the counting rules, and the exceptions, so no writer should be left guessing at any of them. Give the page an owner in billing, date the last review, and update it whenever the invoice format or a counting rule changes. Link to it from proposals, so the shipper reads the same explanation before and after signing.
Hudson South's Authority Asset step is where those billing facts get collected and approved. Hudson Twenty-One keeps the explanation in the voice your account managers use on calls, Market Intelligence checks which pricing questions shippers in your markets raise, and AEO Creation turns the material into a page that answers them directly.
See how your pricing page compares
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- 49 CFR Part 371, Brokers of Property. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Read 2026-10-16.
- Transparency in Property Broker Transactions. Federal Register. Read 2026-10-16.