Most businesses never check their freight invoices beyond the total. Work through these 15 checks with a few months of invoices and your rate agreements, drawn from 30 years in freight forwarding and logistics. Free to use, no sign-up needed.
Invoice accuracy
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What to look for
1. Duplicate invoices
The same collection, container or consignment billed twice, often under different invoice numbers.
2. Rates that don’t match your agreement
Check invoiced base rates against your current rate card or quotation for that lane.
3. Expired rate agreements
Are you still being charged under an old tariff, or were rates increased without notice?
4. Weight and volume errors
Chargeable weight or CBM higher than your packing list, or volumetric weight applied incorrectly.
5. Charges for cancelled or changed shipments
Fees for bookings that were cancelled, amended or never moved.
Surcharges and extras
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What to look for
6. Fuel surcharge above the agreed mechanism
Does the percentage match the index or formula in your agreement?
7. Temporary surcharges that never end
Peak season, congestion or emergency surcharges still applied after the period has ended.
8. Accessorial charges you could avoid
Waiting time, tail-lift, re-delivery or storage fees, and whether they repeat on the same sites.
9. Detention and demurrage
Containers held past free time. Is it a paperwork, booking or warehouse problem?
10. Currency conversion
Foreign-currency invoices converted at a rate well away from the market rate on the invoice date.
How you ship
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What to look for
11. Premium freight that didn’t need to be
Air or express used for stock with enough lead time to go by sea or standard road.
12. LCL that should be consolidated or FCL
Regular part-loads from the same supplier or origin that would fill a container.
13. Same lane, different prices
Two forwarders or hauliers on the same lane with very different costs for similar service.
14. Minimum charges on small shipments
Frequent small consignments each paying a minimum charge, where consolidation would be cheaper.
15. Rates not reviewed in over 12 months
Markets move. If you haven’t benchmarked recently, you may be paying yesterday’s prices.
Found something, or don’t have time to check? An independent Freight Cost & Spend Audit covers all of this across up to 6 months of your freight data, with a written report and prioritised savings. The delivery timeframe is agreed in your written proposal after we review your data and scope. See a sample report.
