TONU
A TONU, or truck ordered not used, is the fee a carrier bills when a truck was dispatched and the load is then cancelled or never tendered.
Last updated 11 October 2026.
The carrier burned a deadhead, a driver's morning, or a held appointment. The TONU is how that cost gets paid when the freight disappears.
Agree it before the truck rolls, on the rate confirmation, or you will negotiate it after the cancellation. There is no single industry price. The number is the number on that load, not a figure someone invents when the shipper calls to kill the pickup.
Timing is the whole argument. A cancel before a truck is assigned is not the same event as a cancel after the driver is sitting at the shipper. The rate con, or the carrier rule you already accepted, says which one earns the fee. The note should say when the truck was ordered, when the load was pulled, and who approved the charge.
It is its own line, not the linehaul. It can show up on the carrier's invoice even though no freight moved. If billing does not see it on the cancelled load, it gets paid twice or not at all. Whether the shipper reimburses it is a separate deal you should already have with them.
FreightScout does not invent a TONU amount. A cancellation on a live load comes back to a person with that load's own terms. How FreightScout handles exceptions.
Questions people actually ask
Is there a standard TONU amount?
No. Use the figure on that load's rate confirmation. If it was never written down, you are negotiating after the truck has already been cancelled.
Who approves a TONU?
A person does. FreightScout will not fill in an amount. The figure you approve is the one already on the load.