5 Ways Technology Can Automate Your Freight Invoicing
Freight invoicing can be a complicated process.
There’s account fees and freight rates. There’s the fuel surcharge and the difference between rail, road and air freight.
Making sure your freight invoicing is right, has the potential to save you thousands of incorrect charges. But it takes massive attention to detail to do it all manually.
Especially when technology can automate it for you.
Here’s 5 tedious invoicing checks you can stop doing when you implement a Freight Management System in your business.
#1 Checking that your invoices match your quotes
Even the most reputable freight carriers make mistakes with invoices.
Most parcel carriers have automated sortation conveyor systems that allow one of two things to happen with your invoicing.
First, the carrier can charge based on what they receive, rather than what you declare when you book the freight. It’s not uncommon for the automated equipment carriers use to measure or weigh your freight incorrectly and then overcharge you for it.
Second, (and on the other hand), if you make a mistake and over-declare, the carrier will happily charge based on what you’ve declared, instead of what you actually shipped. It’s easy to make a mistake and over-declare the weight or dimensions of a shipment with a single typo.
The right freight management software will sync your quotes with your invoices and automatically let you know if something doesn’t add up. But you don’t have to check your invoices against your quotes manually. When you use freight management software, it will compare your invoices to your quotes for you and draw your attention to anything you need to query.
#2 Incorrect Fees
Carriers rely on drivers to mark consignments correctly in the system when they deliver them to their final destination.
And sometimes mistakes happen.
When you setup your freight agreements and process your consignments with a freight management system, it will automatically check for incorrect fees, like being charged residential delivery fees when you’re sending to a business, shipments marked with unnecessary redelivery or futile fees, and tailgate fees on small items that can just be carried.
#3 Incorrect Weights & Dimensions
Incorrect weights and dimensions are the most common form of invoicing error we see.
To make sure you’re only paying for what you’re actually shipping, a freight management system will check weights, dimensions and pricing for you when your invoice comes in.
As an added bonus, if you also standardise your freight so that everything you ship on a regular basis fits within the same five or so sizes and weights, you’ll be able to store these in your freight management systema and streamline the way your warehouse team sends shipments – reducing the chance of errors before your consignment is even collected.
#4 Streamline Your Freight Service Types
Do you send everything by road? Or by rail? Or are you mostly sending things by air?
If you’ve got a freight management system, making sure you’ve been charged for the right type of freight service is just one of the benefits.
The right freight management system will also automatically suggest the best carrier to use for your freight based on cost, delivery timeframe and freight specialty such as dangerous freight or regional freight service requirements.
#5 Comparing Your Cost for Services
Every carrier is different when it comes to the way they charge for freight, but with a freight management system you’ll be able to accurately compare the full costs of your freight, including surcharges.
In addition to standard freight fees, many carriers have surcharges such as residential fees, tailgate fees, dangerous goods fees and fuels surcharges. With a freight management system you can see all these fees at the time of booking your shipment, so you can compare apples with apples.
A freight management system also allows you to tender every consignment so you can instantly be sure that your freight is getting the best price across many carriers.
Make Freight Invoicing Easier with Technology
Implementing freight management technology into your business is a great way to streamline your domestic freight invoicing.
Cario freight management software allows you to manage all your freight in the one place, with access to hundreds of freight carriers and the ability to quote, book and track your freight through a single interface.
If you’re ready to simplify your freight, get in touch with our experienced team today.