My company has recently begun auditing its carrier invoices more closely. Besides making sure that we’re not receiving duplicate invoices and that we’re only being charged the agreed-upon rates and accessorial charges, are there any other invoice-related details we should be wary of?
Your CFO will be super glad you asked this question because it’s not uncommon for carrier invoices to contain small errors or omissions that could be adding up to significant overcharges for you. And some of them aren’t as obvious as you might think.
A good example would be an invoice that’s missing zonal information – or one that doesn’t contain your DIMs. Without these things, your number crunchers can’t really determine whether you’re being charged for the actual size or distance of your shipment – or whether you’ve actually been hit with charges for something much more expensive.
The bottom line is, no one will worry about protecting your shipping spend like you or your 3PL partner. And the devil is often in the details. So, take the time to audit your carrier invoices, and be sure to carry a fine-toothed comb.
