Freight Auditing Information » What is Freight Bill Auditing?

What is freight bill auditing?

Freight auditing involves closely examining your freight bills, invoices and receipts for any errors that caused you to spend more than what you owed to the shipping company. It is surprisingly common for invoices to be loaded with errors that cost the shipper more than their original agreement with their carrier. These errors can lead to substantial losses over time and can be difficult to discover without a professional auditor on hand.

An auditor finds these errors on your invoices and prepares the claim settlement process to get you back the money that you overpaid. Goodman-Reichwald-Dodge is a freight bill auditor and claims settlement company, and we've been in the auditing business since 1947. We handle all interactions with the carrier and make sure that you’re reimbursed in a reasonable timeframe. We also keep records of every claim we file and their status, available for review at any time.

Why are there so many errors in freight bills?

Shipping costs are constantly changing based on a variety of factors. Gas prices, tax rates, time windows and unforeseen complications can heavily affect the cost of a shipment from one month to the next. With so many different aspects to keep track of, it becomes really easy to miss some details that would save the shipper a lot of money - details that would never be discovered without the help of a freight auditor.

When it comes to minimizing freight losses, an auditor is a necessity. However, there’s no guarantee that any run-of-the-mill auditor will catch all of the errors in your freight bills. Even auditors can make mistakes, and some of them don’t offer claims settlement services. This is where GRD comes in - we make sure to catch every error in your freight bills and contact the shipping companies directly to get you your settlement. We don’t stop working until you get back the money you’re owed.

What common errors are found in freight bills?

Every extra charge during your shipment is an opportunity for freight errors. If the weight of your shipment was more than you had anticipated, the carrier would re-adjust the cost but may end up charging you more than the re-adjustment rate. Sometimes this is not intentional, as carriers need to make sure they’re paid fairly for their services. If it is intentional, you may want to find another carrier who won’t try to sneak in additional charges. Either way, it is strongly suggested you have a professional auditor look over your freight bills.

Shipper inaccuracies - Wrong assumptions about your shipment’s weight, tax rates or pickup/delivery times
Wrong shipping method - Planning to ship via LTL but being charged TL rates instead
Transportation inaccuracies - Being charged more than the current price of gas or agreed-upon travel time
Improperly applied discounts - Agreed-upon discounts are either missing or inaccurate
Duplicate payments - Being charged multiple times for a single service
Accessorial charges - Additional freight services that you did not agree upon

What are the benefits of freight auditing?

Companies both large and small can stand to gain incredible benefits from freight auditing. The amount you save with professional auditing is usually more than enough to cover the cost of the service. Here at GRD, we provide even more benefits than any other in-house or third-party auditor on the market with our freight post auditing services:

No upfront costs. You don’t have to pay us anything to get started on the freight auditing and payment process. Simply send us your freight bills, invoices and other related documents and we’ll get right to work on your reimbursement from the carrier. Payment for our services comes from the money we get back for you, which means nothing comes out of your pocket!
Valuable data insight. Working with an auditor will help to identify more ways to save on your freight costs. By analyzing the data of your operations, it will become easier to reduce overcharges and duplicate payments on each invoice. It also becomes easier to find cheaper routes and carriers who aren’t constantly making mistakes on your freight bills.
Higher return on freight claims settlement. Your run-of-the-mill auditors will undoubtedly find some errors on your freight bills, but the experienced team at GRD is guaranteed to find more errors than any other auditor. We also handle the audit payment process ourselves, which gets you a higher return (up to 20%) and at a faster rate than other auditing services.
Logistics management. In addition to freight auditing, we offer logistics management services to help you find the optimal routes for all of your shipments. Our 70+ years in the industry allow us to find you the cheapest and fastest possible routes, helping to save you more off of your freight costs every step of the way.

Ready to get started on your freight bill audit, with no upfront costs and the potential to save 20% off of your total costs? Then contact us today!