DTA - Freight Analysis

Audit and Duplicate Invoicing

DTA has been auditing freight bills a long time and has seen a lot of changes in the audit process. Perhaps the biggest change was when the transportation industry became deregulated in the early 1980’s and all freight rates were no longer ruled under class and commodity tariffs. A carrier and a shipper could agree on a rate to move a shipment and that was the price.

Invoice errors declined as a result of this more simplified approach, but errors still do exist (see DTA’s Track Record). DTA recovers overcharges and duplicates made by freight companies through a combined computer and manual audit. All freight rates are entered into the DTA system and these rates are cross referenced to the carrier invoice based on carrier, date, origin, destination and weight. If the computer does not accept the rate invoiced, a DTA auditor will review the transaction to see where the error was made. Perhaps there was an additional charge that was not correct or perhaps the shipment was made to a destination that wasn’t included on the carrier rate agreement. There are many reasons for overbillings and we’ve seen them all.

Duplicate payments are another area that must be reviewed. DTA’s computer system will capture duplicates based on invoice number and bill of lading or purchase order number going back three years! When DTA finds these errors, we inform the carrier through reporting attached to our payment and on-line indicating what the error was or when the original payment was made. If the carrier still has a question, they may email or call the DTA accounting representative directly.

It is important to understand that every shipment needs to be reviewed. Companies that don’t use DTA sometimes have an accounting clerk or shipper review larger invoices but in our experience, even the less-than-truckload and couriers are guilty in overbilling. We have also observed that checking in-house is not as thorough a function as using professionals.