IT’S MORE THAN THE MONEYAR_Traffic_AD_0919.indd 1 9/10/19 12:10 PM. ... transactions, including...

FBAP service providers use big data and businessintelligence to drive global enterprise change.

FREIGHT BILL AUDIT & PAYMENT:

IT’S MORE THAN THE MONEY

P aying freight bills on time andaccurately helps shippers become“shippers of choice,” a designation that

makes it easier to secure capacity and movefreight reliably.

At the same time, few shippers want to paymore than they owe, or more than similarshippers in their market are paying to movetheir freight. “They want to know that theirfreight rate, and assessorial and other costs arein line with the market,” says Jeff Pape, seniorvice president, head of global transportationproduct and marketing with Minneapolis-basedU.S. Bank.

Freight bill audit and payment (FBAP)service providers are on the case.

They have the expertise, technology, andprocesses to investigate a shipper’s bills,compare the rates charged to those for whichthe shipper contracted, and ferret out mistakesand duplicate bills. Many also can comparea shipper’s rates against its peers and identifysteps to boost efficiency.

While the freight bill audit and paymentindustry has been operating in North Americafor nearly a century, it continues to adapt andchange in order to meet customers’ needs andfind hidden value.

SPONSORED CONTENT

September 2019 • Inbound Logistics 69

Supplement_FreightPay_0919.indd 69 9/16/19 5:28 PM

70 Inbound Logistics • September 2019

Just as it has transformed most other sectors of the economy, technology is altering the FBAP industry. “While the basics of the industry, such as reduc-ing expenses and providing operational enhancements and decision support, haven’t changed, technology offers new ways to provide those services, especially decision support,” says Tom Zygmunt, manager of marketing, business devel-opment and promotion with Cass Information Systems, Inc., a provider of freight bill and other services.

SOLVING THE PUZZLEFor instance, many service providers

offer analytic solutions that allow shippers to identify cost savings, as well as opportunities to speed service and better manage their supply chains.

“We’re seeing the industry change from a settlement service into a data intelligence service,” says Shannon Vaillancourt, president of RateLinx, a provider of intelligent freight audit and payment solutions.

“Customers are more sophisticated and want to leverage the data obtained during the freight audit process to gain insight into their transportation spending and effectiveness, and make better strategic decisions,” he says.

UNEARTHING VALUABLE INSIGHTSMany FBAP providers today

offer products and services that go beyond traditional freight audit and payment offerings. These often include transportation management solutions and analytical tools that allow customers to better manage their global supply chains.

At the same time, expectations for more timely reporting continue to rise. “Many shippers want their freight payments processed and reported on a daily basis,” says George Kontoravdis, president with Fortigo, a provider of FBAP and other services. Frequently updated data provides more relevant insight to freight spending and enables more informed decisions.

The growth of e-commerce also is changing the FBAP industry. With more consumers buying online, a growing portion of shipments are small parcels. “The increase in small parcel and package shipments creates a substantial amount of data, which must be captured for reporting and mining,” says Allan Miner, president of CT Logistics, a provider of FBAP services. “Final-mile costs and details add significant data and information for reporting and measuring carrier performance.” Freight bill audit and payment service providers can capture and leverage this information.

SECURING DATAData privacy has also become a

greater concern. “Customers are much more sensitive about data privacy than they ever have been,” says Harold Friedman, senior vice president, global corporate development with Data2Logistics, a global provider of freight audit and payment services. Shippers are asking if vendors are GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliant and/or have earned certifications from organizations like Privacy Shield or TRUSTe. “These questions are now commonplace,” Friedman says. “A mere year ago, before GDPR came into play, there was far less emphasis on privacy.”

Another shift is the greater emphasis by many shippers on analyzing assessorial charges imposed on, for instance, deliveries made outside a set delivery window, says Nick Fisher, director of sales with AR Traffic Consultants, a provider of transportation management logistics services. While a smaller contributor to overall freight expense than the freight rate itself, these charges can still be substantial, he adds.

THE GLOBAL PICTUREGiven the maturity of the FBAP

market in North America, the greatest potential for industry growth comes from companies and operations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Central and South

America. And no matter where they’re based, a growing number of shippers are looking for freight bill information that takes a global perspective.

“They need FBAP providers that have offices and experts in various regions around the world and can manage multiple languages and currencies, while also understanding differing government regulations and policies,” says Megan Bishop, director of operations with enVista, a software and solutions firm. She provides an example: In the United States, most shippers can short pay a carrier invoice if there’s a discrepancy between the invoice and delivery information. This practice is less common in Europe.

The structure of the FBAP industry itself also continues to change. Keith Snavely, senior vice president, global sales, with nVision Global Technology Solutions, Inc., predicts continued consolidation, as well as scattered bankruptcies. Dropping technology costs make it easier for companies to get into the business. However, some have begun offering their services at or below cost to gain business, he says. This will backfire if FBAP providers run into financial trouble because they’re not charging enough to cover their costs.

PROBING QUESTIONS FOR FBAPs

To be sure, most FBAP providers man-age their businesses prudently and operate honestly. Even so, before signing with an FBAP provider, shippers will want to evaluate them. An important part of the FBAP selection process is to obtain the company’s audited financial statements, Zygmunt says. This can provide some assurance it is on solid financial footing. Also ask to see the company’s SOC 1, Type 2 report, Zygmunt adds. This report assesses an organization’s internal controls over a period of time.

Check whether the company has an employee dishonesty bond sufficient to reasonably cover potential losses, Friedman says. Data2Logistics has a $50 million employee dishonesty bond.

FREIGHT BILL AUDIT & PAYMENT: IT’S MORE THAN THE MONEY


Would you bank with a logistics company?Why are you still using a bank to audit andpay your freight bills? We have been helpingshippers manage every aspect of freight forover 50 years.

Never been a bank!We do logistics!

www.artraffic.com

• custom GL coding• ad hoc reporting• benchmarking• routing opportunity report• online exception reporting• online exception approval• access to powerful freight dashboard

Take advantage of our experience!Your competition already does.

AR_Traffic_AD_0919.indd 1 9/10/19 12:10 PM

www.artraffic.com


“We’ve never had to use it, but it’s thereto protect our clients and ourselves, incase a dishonest act by an employeecauses a loss,” he adds.

Physically visit the freight audit andpayment providers’ operations, includ-ing those outside North America. “Theyshould be full-service processing cen-ters, with employees who are expertsin the region,” Snavely says. That way,customers can work with people whoare in the same time zone and knowtheir language.

Because technology is an increasinglydisruptive force in the industry, shippersshould look “for a provider focused onreducing transportation costs throughautomated freight audit and recoveryacross all transportation modes, busi-ness intelligence analytics, and contractoptimization solutions,” says HannahTestani, chief operating officer withIntelligent Audit.

And when evaluating FBAP providers,look at it from a “total value proposition,”says Ross Harris, chief executive officerwith A3 Freight Payment. Ask how realand valuable the solutions will be foryour business.

Some providers who are trying toavoid commoditization may tout systemsthat won’t provide much value. “Is it thefuzzy dice hanging from the rearviewmirror as opposed to a couple of extracylinders that will actually get the cardown the road faster?” Harris asks.

Vaillancourt identifies severaladditional questions to ask whenevaluating a provider and its software.Ask how data will be standardized andcleansed. To ensure a complete pictureof your operations, no data should beremoved, and any non-standard datashould be fixed.

Check that data is presented within24 hours and is actionable. “The sooneryou see a problem, the easier it is to fix,”Vaillancourt says. You should receivealerts telling you something needsattention, and analytics telling you whyit’s happening, he adds.

Finally, ask the provider if they willtry to talk you or your company into or

out of taking an action. “The answer tothis should be, ‘No. The data will driveall the decisions,’” Vaillancourt says.The FBAP provider shouldn’t have toconvince a shipper to do (or not to do)anything, because the data should revealthe solution.

The following providers offer theFBAP services that will help yourfirm meet the demands of an evolvingfreight world.

A3 FREIGHT PAYMENTCUSTOMIZATIONIS KEY

The team that launched Memphis-based A3 Freight Payment brings theexperience and expertise gained throughthe positions they held at a half-dozenfreight payment companies. Their goalwas to develop a firm that draws from theindustry’s best practices, provides stellarcustomer service and intuitive systems,and employs a transparent, collabora-tive approach. Most of A3’s clients incurabout $30 million or more in annualfreight costs.

A3 provides the highly customizedservices often required by large-volumeshippers. “For instance, they mayhave complex general ledger codingrequirements, or multiple match files forwhich they need shipment validation,”Harris says. These characteristics meanthe firm may not fit into the businessmodel of some high-volume, highlystructured FBAP providers, he adds.Instead, they need a partner that cancustomize its solutions to meet theirspecific requirements.

To that end, when A3 begins workingwith a client, it will ask about its goalsand concerns. They’ll determine howthe two organizations can work togetherto maximize the value of A3’s solution.For instance, A3 is working with anautomotive supplier that needs its trans-portation management system (TMS)file sent to the freight pay provider, andthen returned within 24 hours, with an

accrual amount for its freight and asses-sorial charges.

Once the file is returned, the firmbooks its freight expenses. As the actualinvoices arrive, it reconciles them.“While many freight pay firms can get aTMS match file and use it as a validationsource, getting an accurate rate for thereconciliation process is more difficult,”says Craig Cameron, vice president ofsales and marketing with A3. “Not every-body is able to do it.” A3 can.

Through its Last Mile program, A3has begun handling a wider range oftransactions, including freight forward-ing, as well as ocean and steamshiptransactions. For instance, A3 has beenworking with a large appliance manufac-turer that partners with companies thathandle delivery and installation of itsproducts. “It’s not just a straightforwardfreight bill audit and payment process,”Cameron says. Along with freight aremultiple add-on services. A3’s solution

“We providemore than just afreight bill auditand paymentservice.”

-Craig CameronVP, Sales and Marketing

A3 Freight Payment



C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Cass-7.875x10.75_Freight.pdf 1 1/18/18 1:37 PM

Cass_ad0418.indd 1 3/28/18 3:29 PM

www.cassinfo.com

www.cassinfo.com


enables the company to analyze the dataso it can identify opportunities to operatemore efficiently.

Similarly, A3 tailors its reportingand analytic capabilities to each cli-ent. For users who need a broad view ofthe business, A3 can provide high-level,graphical dashboards that are updated inreal time. A3’s Report app can providea deeper, more detailed look. Finally,A3’s Analyze app, a query builder tool,enables power users to initiate deepdives into their data, conduct massivedata extracts and create highly detailedreports that can be used to present tomanagement, negotiate with carriers, orfor myriad other uses.

“When our website talks about cus-tom solutions for each client, it’s trulyreflecting our approach,” Harris says.

AR TRAFFICCONSULTANTSUNLOCKINGSAVINGS

Since 1964, New York-based ARTraffic Consultants has provided freightbill payment and audit, shipment track-ing, and third-party logistics services,among other solutions. While AR Trafficworks with organizations of all sizes, itssweet spot is midsize companies, or thosewith annual revenues of between about$50 million and $500 million.

Many of AR Traffic’s softwareapplications are proprietary and designedin-house, giving AR more ability tocustomize each solution to better fiteach client’s needs than would be thecase with third-party software, Fishersays. “We’ve committed a significantinvestment in technology research anddevelopment to support our freight payand audit group, and our consulting andsoftware divisions,” he says.

For instance, AR Traffic continuesto invest in its freight rate database andengine. When its clients sign carriercontracts, they’ll send AR a copy of the

agreement. AR loads this into its freightengine, along with the carrier’s rate baseand the negotiated rules for that car-rier contract.

Then, when a customer needs toaccess the correct freight rate for thatcarrier, AR can access the rates fromits database, apply the rules around dis-counts, floors, and other factors, andcalculate what the carrier should becharging them. This “pre-auditing”ensures proper payment and minimizesthe likelihood of incorrect charges and

classification errors, Fisher says.AR Traffic’s solutions can code freight

bills to the SKU level, enabling compa-nies to accurately allocate freight costsbetween different products. They alsocan evaluate parcel bills for service fail-ures, such as late delivery, and accountfor this within the customer’s payments.

AR Traffic also is responding to greaterinterest by clients that want to accessfreight rates directly, by enabling them toconnect with carriers. “We’ve opened upour transportation management systemto allow our customers to take advantageof that,” Fisher says. Some customersprefer this approach, as they no longerneed to work with AR Traffic to maintaintheir rate database.

To be sure, this carries some risk.“You’re relying on the carrier to ensureyour contract is accurately stored intheir computer database,” Fisher notes.Carriers’ bills don’t always reflect thenegotiated rate. “You could be payingthe carrier more than you should, andyou’d never know the difference,” Fishersays. Conversely, when AR stores eachcarrier’s rates in its rate engine, it caneasily check that its client’s bill reflectsthe contracted rates.

Along with auditing freight bills andpayments, AR Traffic is helping its cus-tomers check assessorial charges, whichtypically run from 2% to 6% of theiroverall freight bills. “By helping cus-tomers better manage these charges, wehelp them save a substantial amount ofmoney,” Fisher says.

CASS INFORMATIONSYSTEMSDETECTINGEFFICIENCIES

For more than 60 years, CassInformation Systems, Inc. has providedfreight bill audit and payment services forits clients. In addition to its headquartersin St. Louis, Missouri, Cass has officesin Sao Paolo, Brazil, the Netherlands,

“We helpcustomersmanageassessorialcharges, whichsaves thema substantialamount ofmoney.”

-Nick FisherDirector, Sales

AR Traffic Consultants



Transportation Spend IntelligencePowered by Freight Audit

20192019-20

201919th Annual

Trax is a global leader in Transportation Spend Management solutions.

Combining expert services with cloud-based applications that lead the industry,

we are transforming traditional freight and parcel audit to help customers better

manage and control their global transportation costs and drive enterprise wide

efficiency. With a global footprint spanning North America, Latin America, Asia

and Europe, we deliver data-based visibility and insights, higher savings and

better control of transportation spend for shippers of all sizes.

Visit us at www.traxtech.com.

Oct 28 - 30 2019

Parcel Forum 2019Gaylord Texan

Dallas, TX - Booth 518

meet us:

il_fullpage_bleed-trax-19-08.indd 1 9/10/19 2:23 PM

www.traxtech.com


and Singapore. It works with compa-nies across the globe, helping them savemoney and operate more efficiently inseveral ways.

“A primary benefit to our customers isreduced processing expenses,” Zygmuntsays. Because Cass specializes in process-ing freight payments, it provides expertiseand operational efficiencies that benefitits customers.

On its audit services, Cass typicallysaves its customers between 1% and 5%of their freight spending. It does this bychecking that the carrier is applying theright rate for its type of goods, as wellas the correct discounts and assessorialcharges, and that the shipper is the partywho should be billed for the freight.

In addition, by leveraging the infor-mation gained through the paymentprocess, companies typically can cut10% to 20% from their freight expenses.“With our business analytics tools, a cus-tomer can quickly pinpoint areas wherefreight expenses are on target and wherethey might be getting out of control,”Zygmunt says.

Cass also audits at the packagelevel—a key capability, given thegrowth in e-commerce and the resultingexplosion in package deliveries. It alsocan check for potential challenges thatcan arise specifically when shippingpackages, Zygmunt says. For instance,the major parcel carriers often imposevarious assessorial charges that need tobe checked for validity.

“Freight invoices are complex,”Zygmunt says. “Cass understandsfreight charges, specializes in this typeof service, has a solid system for audit-ing freight bills, and is large enough tocontinue to invest in technology and pro-cesses to provide the latest solutions to itscustomers,” he adds.

Cass is both a public company andfinancial holding company. It started asCass Bank in 1906. In 1956, Cass addedfreight invoice processing to its rosterof services. By about the late 1970s, thefreight payment business became thedominant part of the overall company.

Cass uses the bank to make payments forits customers, Zygmunt says. Throughits bank, Cass also is able to offer tradefinancing options for its customers.

And as a financial institution, “finan-cial stability and security are at theforefront with Cass,” Zygmunt says.

CT LOGISTICSCAPTURINGINTANGIBLES

CT Logistics, also known as TheCommercial Traffic Company, started96 years ago as a provider of audit ser-vices for rail and canal freight shipments.The company, based in Cleveland,Ohio, was one of the first companies toaudit motor freight, parcel, air and inter-national freight bills. “CT Logistics’ coreservice has always been freight bill auditand payment,” Miner says.

Over the past 96 years, its methodsand tools have—not surprisingly—advanced. In the 1980s, CT introducedFreitRater®, one of the first computer-ized solutions for auditing and ratingshipments. As both transportationand technology evolve, CT Logisticshas continued to invest in FreitRater,making it an enterprise-class softwaresolution; available as a licensed TMSsystem, outsourced to CT, or as a SaaSsolution through CT’s cloud-based deliv-ery model.

Today, CT’s suite of solutionsalso includes Intelligent CharacterRecognition (ICR) for freight invoicesand FreitWeb LCR, its Least CostRouting online shipping solution.

In addition to traditional audit, CTLogistics “provides actionable, real-timeinformation and predictive analytics,”Miner says. CT’s sophisticated reportingtools allow clients to easily view graphics,generate pivot tables, and receive reportson a scheduled basis, allowing them tocapture and analyze information that canhelp in decision making. CT Logistics’Qlik Business Intelligent Platform

lets shippers combine numerous datasources so they can easily analyze multi-ple data sets.

The Qlik® reporting system also allowsclients to create reports and then drilldown into any field or data element.“These interactive data visualizationsenable clients to more easily identifycarrier performance issues and applycorrective actions immediately,”Miner says. That’s in contrast to someBI solutions that rely on query-basedanalysis and restrict users to linearexplorations within a partial view of theirdata, he adds.

“Interactive datavisualizationsenable clientsto more easilyidentify carrierperformanceissues andapply correctiveactionsimmediately.”

-Allan MinerPresident, CT Logistics



© 2019 U.S. Bank. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.04-0099-03

To make smart decisions about your supply chain, you need powerful data that

benchmarks your performance against your peer group’s – in a format that’s easy to

understand. U.S. Bank Freight Payment delivers actionable intelligence along with a

consultative approach, so you can streamline processes and find efficiencies from point

of origin to last mile.

Reliability and security. Keep your competitive information secure with a bank that’s

gone beyond meeting regulatory, audit and compliance requirements to earn the

highest data security certification.

Collaborative approach. Get customized recommendations to optimize your freight

activity, gain greater visibility into your supply chain performance and build better

relationships with your carriers.

Complete and accurate data. 100% pre-payment audit ensures accurate information

goes into your systems.

freight.usbank.com

Powerful data.Smarter decisions.

U.S. BANK FREIGHT PAYMENT

USBank_AD_0919.indd 1 9/10/19 1:40 PM

http://www.freight.usbank.com


“With Qlik, you can develop, extend,and embed visual analytics in yourapps, portals, or anywhere,” Minersays. Qlik customized dashboards areset up with a common governanceand security framework that applies toall an organization’s employees acrossthe globe.

Because CT uses its inhouseFreitRater® for its FBAP services,one key to an effective partnership issuccessfully integrating with its clients’systems, such as their WMS, ERP, AP, orother software applications. To this end,CT Logistics’ software engineers workdiligently to ensure “Day-1 functionality”for upstream and downstream dataintegration and management reporting,Miner says.

CT’s experienced team of logisticsprofessionals also provide value-addedconsulting and project management forspend analyses, benchmarking, and costcomparisons, among other functions,Miner says.

The savings on a typical FBAP projecttotal between 3% and 7% of total freightspend. That’s not counting the “moreintangible, but invaluable savings” thatcome from visibility to shipping data, aswell as the predictive analytics possiblebecause of the data captured, includingtrends, correlations, and dependencies,Miner says.

CTSI-GLOBALLOGISTICSSUPPORT FROMEND TO END

CTSI-Global works with numerousbrands across the globe, processingabout $14 billion in freight invoices eachyear, says Richard Perry, vice presidentof business development with theMemphis, Tennessee-based firm. “All arelooking for more efficient and effectiveways to manage their logistics andbusiness process operations,” he says.

CTSI-Global can help. With itstechnology, CTSI-Global is able togather data from customers’ operationsand disparate systems across the world.It combines this with knowledge of itscarrier network to ensure its customersare working with the best providersin each region and optimizing theirload routing. “The result is end-to-endlogistics support that can work on yourbehalf,” Perry says. In addition to its U.S.operations, CTSI-Global has locations inIndia, Ireland, and Singapore.

As part of its managed services suiteof solutions, CTSI-Global can help cus-tomers manage their inbound suppliers’

shipments. They can see, for instance,when products leave the vendors andwhether a vendor is shipping full orders.“We streamline this and give customersvisibility to their inbound freight,” Perrysays. With this solution, companies alsocan implement a charge-back programfor vendors that deviate from policies.

Recently, a medical device com-pany spun off from its parent. It reliedon the transportation management sys-tem offered by CTSI-Global to manageall its shipping activities, from routingshipments to managing documents. “Wereplaced the entire logistics department,and they didn’t miss a beat,” Perry says.

DATA2LOGISTICSCONNECTINGTHE DOTS

Data2Logistics, based in FortMyers, Florida, possesses the skills andexperience required to effectively workwith shippers whose operations spanthe globe. Its customers include smalland medium-sized businesses, as well asabout 10% of the Fortune 500. Throughits services, Data2Logistics typicallyrecovers 5% to 15% of its customers’freight spend.

In addition to reining in freight costs,many companies are looking for a singlevendor to provide information on aglobal basis, from a single database,for all their modes of transportation,Friedman says. Data2Logistics canhandle the unique requirements thatcome into play when working with taxes,regulations, and data on a global basis.

For example, when transactions areconducted in a currency other thanthe U.S. dollar or euro, it will maintainrecords in the local currency, in euros,and in U.S. dollars to easily supportglobal reporting.

Like many FBAP providers,Friedman has observed growing interestby customers in business analytics.Data2Logistics is well positioned to

“We streamlineinboundshipments andgive customersvisibility to theirinbound freight.”

-Richard Perry, VP,Business Development

CTSI-Global



99%of supplychain leaders

say advanced supplychain analytics willbe critical or moreimportant in 1-2 years.

82%of logisticsIT providers

say visibility is thebiggest obstacle thattheir customers face.

70%ofenterprises

want businessintelligence tools fromtheir freight auditor.

Most organizations understand the power of data but struggle

make better business decisions. Orca’s advanced Freight Audit

Gains deep insightinto supply chain performanceto save on costs.

Obtainscentralized and mobile supplychain visibility and reporting.

Negotiatesthe best carrier rates andoptimizes the supply chain.

outsourced freight audits and100% payment accuracy.

Sources: Forbes, Analytics Will Revolutionize Supply Chains In 2018; InboundLogistics, 2018 Top 100 Logistics IT Providers & Market Research Survey;American Shipper, 2016 Transportation Payment Benchmark Study.

At Orca, we’re continually reinvestingin the future of supply chain intelligencetechnology. Going far beyond verifying,correcting and paying freight bills, we solveyour logistics and operations challenges.

Give your supply chain teamthe visibility they need to cutcosts, optimize processes and

VISIBILITYIS POWER

“Without data, you’re just anotherperson with an opinion.”

— W. Edwards Deming

Let’s get started.

www.orca.bi

Our solution is custom

leading to deeper insightsand higher cost savings.

Orca_Ad_FullPg.indd 1 9/10/19 12:51 PM

www.orca.bi


help. In addition to decades of freightauditing experience, it can provide theexpertise and technology that can helpshippers of all sizes leverage the insightthat can be drawn from their shippingdata. “This has nothing to do with theprocessing of bills, except that throughour audits we get the data,” Friedmansays. “We have the resources to helpshippers optimize pricing for theirtransportation shipments.”

Data2InformSM, their knowledgemanagement platform, mines shippers’data to gain access to actionableinformation that can help them identifyways to “ship smarter,” Friedman says.It starts by assembling a global view ofthe organization’s logistics spendingand operations, including assessorial

and freight charges, to identify costdrivers. Through its analytic capabilities,Data2InformSM can identify opportunitiesto operate more efficiently by, forinstance, shifting service types and/ortransportation modes.

As more shippers look for “closedloop systems,” Data2Logistics can alsohelp. Friedman describes how this canwork: A company initiates an outboundshipment, creating a manifest or billof lading that’s electronically sent toData2Logistics, which in turn marriesthis record with the freight informationit receives from the carriers. This allowsit to allocate freight costs, often down tothe SKU level, allowing clients to moreaccurately price their goods.

In addition to its expertise in freightbill audit, payment, and analytics,Date2Logistics takes seriously itsobligation to safeguard customers’ privateinformation. It’s long been TRUSTe-and Privacy Shield-certified, and alsosupports the European Union’s GeneralData Protection Regulation (GDPR).

ENVISTATRACKINGDOWN REFUNDS

enVista LLC is a provider of globalfreight bill audit and payment, an expertin systems selection and implementationof labor, transportation, and warehousemanagement systems, a Microsoft Goldcertified partner, and a leader in net-work strategy and facility design andbuild, among other services, says MeganBishop, director of operations. “Throughthese services, we help optimize supplychain efficiencies,” she says. Based inCarmel, Indiana, enVista also operateseight offices around the world.

In addition, enVista “helps clientsunify commerce, so they can drive rev-enue and build customer engagement,”Bishop says. It does this through an arrayof solutions, including order manage-ment, point of sale, and store fulfillment

systems, as well as vendor drop-ship andtrading partner management.

With its FBAP solution, enVistaworks with companies of all sizes andfrom various regions around the world.Its clients come from a cross-sectionof industries, with many from theretail sector.

While freight bill auditing remainsa key capability, enVista’s proactiveanalytics and consulting servicesenable clients to improve visibilityto their freight, increase operationaland financial control, and reducetransportation spending.

For instance, enVista’s solutions

80 Inbound Logistics • September 2019r

“We have theresources tohelp shippersoptimizetransportationpricing.”

-Harold FriedmanSVP, Global Corporate

DevelopmentData2Logistics

“We optimizesupply chainefficiencies,drive revenue,and buildcustomerengagement.”

-Megan BishopDirector, Operations

enVista



nVision_AD_0519.indd 1 5/1/19 4:24 PM

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.nvisionglobal.com


provided greater visibility into thetransportation spending of five divisionsof a global engineering company, whilealso streamlining invoice processing.Among other benefits, the firm cut thenumber of invoices requiring correctionsby more than 40%. Within six months, itreduced the cost of invoice processing bynearly 20%.

While no computer system integra-tion typically is required before enVistacan conduct a freight audit, an integra-tion can enhance the service provided.This can be either a one-way or two-wayintegration. In a one-way integration,enVista captures information from theclient through, for instance, a feed fromthe warehouse management system.By capturing this data directly from thesource, the value of the audit and theinformation contained in the reportingcan be both deeper and broader. In atwo-way integration, enVista provides theaudited data directly back to its custom-ers. Usually, this is done through a linkto its customers’ ERP solutions.

Through its transportation-focusedbusiness intelligence platform, enVistacan easily, accurately, and quicklymanipulate data to provide proactiveanalytics and what-if analyses.

For instance, an analysis might reveala customer is shipping packages usingboth standard and priority overnightservices. However, the priority serviceprovides a difference of just several hoursin the delivery time. The standard over-night service is less expensive and stillmeets the service level agreements.enVista’s platform can calculate theamount the client could save by shiftingmore packages to the standard over-night service.

Working with a specialty coffeeretailer, enVista recovered more than$420,000 in charges resulting from rat-ing errors. On top of this, it calculatedthe refund owed the company for fuelcharges and assessorials, by calculat-ing differences between the amountscharged and the contracted rates. Theclient also gained greater visibility to all

its charges. “The business intelligenceplatform has helped us identify manyopportunities to benefit our customers,”Bishop says.

FORTIGOPROVIDINGVITAL LINKS

Among the primary services offeredby Fortigo, Inc. are its freight bill auditand payment solution and cloud-basedtransportation management system, saysGeorge Kontoravdis, Ph.D. and presidentof the Austin, Texas-based firm.

Fortigo’s transportation managementplatform electronically links shippers,carriers, vendors, and other businesspartners so all can view the same infor-mation. The solution is carrier-neutraland can scale to meet the needs ofmost any enterprise. It enables ship-pers to track and analyze shipping data,and then leverage this information tocut costs, enhance customer service,and improve decision-making, amongother benefits.

Fortigo’s freight audit solutionautomatically reviews freight bills andidentifies inaccuracies between thecontracted rates and the rates chargedto shippers, while simultaneously takinginto account service level agreements,volume discounts, and other factors.As a result, Fortigo can preventinadvertent overpayments.

The freight audit software also canmatch shipments to their original ordernumbers or purchase orders, minimiz-ing the risk of duplicate invoices. “Ourtechnology optimizes and audits freightlogistics to help enterprises reduce costs,improve customer satisfaction, enhancecompliance, and increase profitability,”Kontoravdis says.

Through the solution, shippers alsocan automatically submit to their carriersclaims for service failure refunds.

The system can produce numer-ous customizable reports based on

user-defined search criteria, such as sum-maries of spending by time period, mode,charge category, and carrier. Dashboardsenable users to quickly identify spend-ing trends. Built-in carrier performancereports highlight deviations from ser-vice level agreements, and can bolsterclients’ abilities to effectively negotiatenew contracts. “These reports pro-vide users with the insight that enablesthem to cut spending in multiple ways,”Kontoravdis says.

To begin the auditing process, Fortigowill integrate with its client’s financial

“Our technologyoptimizes andaudits freightlogistics to helpenterprisesincreaseprofitability.”

-George KontoravdisPresident, Fortigo



Drive Exceptional GlobalTransportation Results

envistacorp.com

Significantly improve visibility and reduce costswith enVista's global transportationspend management solutions.

• Global Freight Audit & Payment

• Carrier Contract Analysis & Negotiation

• TMS Selection & Implementation

• Vendor Drop Ship Solutions

• Transportation Consulting

• Business Intelligence

• EDI/Trading Partner Management

Let’s have a conversation.

EnVista_0919.indd 1 9/10/19 12:13 PM

http://www.envistacorp.com


system. Fortigo’s systems easily integratewith most established supply chain soft-ware solutions. Additional integrationswith the shipping and warehousing sys-tems also may be required. These canenable closed-loop audits, in which pur-chase order data is matched againstfreight bills, yielding increased accuracyand functionality.

The typical implementation runsabout three months, although this willvary based on the number of carriers,contracts, and other factors specific toeach client. Most of Fortigo’s clientsspend at least $10 million on transporta-tion annually.

Fortigo also connects with a growingnumber of carriers. As a result, a shipperthat’s expanding or redesigning its trans-portation network can simply input itsnew strategy into Fortigo. “The companycan quickly move from planning to exe-cution,” Kontoravdis says.

On a new freight bill audit deploy-ment, companies often save between5% and 15% of their logistics spending.On an ongoing basis, companies typi-cally save between 1% and 1.5% of theiroverall logistics expense. “While a smallpercentage, this can still be a significantdollar amount,” Kontoravdis says.

INTELLIGENTAUDITMASTERINGCOMPLEXITY

Intelligent Audit is a technology leaderin parcel and freight audit, businessintelligence, and transportation spendoptimization. The firm’s proprietarytechnology, paired with a team ofstrategic account managers, helps someof the largest and most complex globalshippers analyze, benchmark, optimize,and gain critical insights into their globaltransportation network, and becomesmarter shippers.

“Intelligent Audit’s best-in-class auditand reporting technology allows clients

to leverage their data to reduce costs,enhance real-time visibility, and improvethe end-customer experience,” saysHannah Testani, chief operating officer.

Intelligent Audit, which is based inRochelle Park, New Jersey, works withcompanies from across the globe andacross industry verticals. Customers’annual transportation expense can rangefrom less than $1 million to more than$3 billion.

Intelligent Audit recently partneredwith Triumph Bank to provide fully inte-grated, bank-backed, freight paymentprocessing. Through this partnership,Intelligent Audit can help its clientsstreamline accounts payable, optimizeworking capital, become a shipper ofchoice, and enhance the security of theirsupply chains.

Intelligent Audit’s solution iscloud-based, minimizing integrationrequirements. However, Intelligent Auditoften works with its customers to accesstheir TMS data and SKU information.This data helps Intelligent Audit pro-vide more valuable insight. It also allowsthem to create true accruals for cus-tomers, showing both the shipmentsthat have been shipped out and not yetinvoiced, as well as shipments that havebeen invoiced and not yet funded.

This information also enablesIntelligent Audit to allocate shipmentcosts to the SKU level. “Shippers canunderstand their profitability at the mostgranular level,” Testani says. With thisadditional data, Intelligent Audit canprovide its customers with more detailand color on their transportation data, byjoining order information such as the POand load numbers to the carrier invoices.

The reporting capabilities also includetrends and historical dashboards that canhelp shippers identify spikes and anom-alies as they occur; relevant KPIs thatprovide insight to the trade-offs betweencost, speed, and performance; andinteractive heat maps that pinpoint bot-tlenecks and problematic or high-costlocations. The system’s 700-plus pre-built reports provide real-time reporting

and tracking, time-in-transit analysis, anddata on accessorial management, carrierperformance, and hub injection analysis,among others.

Intelligent Audit’s powerful reportingand analytics functionality helped a largeretailer optimize its omnichannel ship-ping strategy. The retailer’s fulfillmentnetwork includes both distribution cen-ters and brick-and-mortar stores. Thecompany suspected it had an opportunityto increase store-based fulfillment, butlacked hard data to validate this hypoth-esis. Manually conducting an analysis

“Our technologyallows clientsto leveragedata to reducecosts, enhancevisibility, andimprove thecustomerexperience.”

-Hannah TestaniChief Operating Officer

Intelligent Audit



Data2Logisitcs_AD_0918.indd 1 9/5/18 11:47 AM


http://www.DATA2LOGISTICS.COM


would have been too time-consuming.The retailer leveraged IA’s proprietary

algorithms to analyze each of its stores.With this insight, the retailer was able tomaximize the productivity of its existinginfrastructure, identify the ZIP codes inwhich it made sense to add warehousesor convert existing stores to distributioncenters, and optimize the placement ofnew stores, Testani says.

According to Intelligent Audit’sresearch, their customers save an averageof 12% to 18% of their shipping costs.The exact amount will vary with themodes, carriers, and services utilized.

NVISION GLOBALTECHNOLOGYSOLUTIONSANALYZING DATA

nVision Global provides global freightinvoice audit, payment, and transpor-tation spend management services forcustomers around the globe throughseven full-service processing centerslocated on three continents, and withemployees who are fluent in more than25 languages.

The company’s expertise lies inmanaging and auditing invoices for allmodes and services of transportation,and in any currency and most languages,says Keith Snavely, senior vice president,global sales with the McDonough,Georgia-based firm. “nVision’s niche ismultinational corporations of all sizeswho need an FBAP provider with globalcapabilities,” he says.

Each year, nVision processes 125million invoices, totalling more than$6 billion. Its web-based exceptionmanagement tools are availablein multiple languages and candetermine the correction applicationof each customer’s business rulesand requirements.

Along with its ability to automatefreight audit and payment processes,nVision’s state-of-the-art analytical tools

can help customers achieve savingsof 10% to 15% of their transportationspending. It does this by enablingaccurate and customized allocations oftransportation costs, based on weight,SKU numbers, and other factors.

For instance, by using nVision’sanalytics solution, a customer learned itwas making overnight parcel shipmentsto a company located in its samebuilding, but on a different floor. “Theclient was inadvertently spending moneyto send a letter two floors down, when anemployee could have walked it there forfree,” Snavely says.

Another company used nVision’slane analysis solution to consolidateshipments and identify areas in whichit could change transportation modes,while still meeting its service levelagreements. In doing so, it capturedabout $400,000 in annual savings.“That would have been impossiblewithout the data we capture throughthe freight audit and payment process,”Snavely says.

nVision, like other FBAP providers, isexpanding its traditional suite of servicesto provide other supply chain solutions,such as transportation managementservices. Because it has already captured

the volume of information availableon most invoices, nVision can useits analytical tools to identify wayscustomers can lower the costs andincrease the effectiveness of their supplychain management functions.

In addition, nVision’s Global SupplyChain Services division can work withits customers to use data generated bythe audits to improve rate negotiationsfor any mode of transportation. “Thesesavings are significant, and on top of the10% to 15% savings identified in theaudit,” Snavely says.

ORCAREVEALING THEBIG PICTURE

At first glance, whales may seemto have little to do with freight bills.However, the name of Toronto-basedOrca Intelligence reflects its found-ers’ desire “to be a big fish in a small searather than just another player in thesupply chain industry,” says co-founderMarco Grossi. “This is a niche mar-ket, and we feel very confident that withthe right technology and focus on client


“Customersuncoveropportunitiesto reducecosts orreconfigure

their supply chains to be moreefficient.”

-Marco Grossi (right), Co-Founder, Orca(pictured with co-founder and brother Matt Grossi)


Learn more: ratelinx.com/strategy

Automate your freight audit and eliminate rate tolerances. Control costs and stay on budget. Streamline operations, and improve insights by turning data to action. Maximize your visibility with all your shipment, tracking, and freight invoice intelligence in one place.

Get advanced analytics and access your real-time freight spend—powered by your invoice data.

Freight Audit is Dead.

All Your Logistics Intelligence in a Single Platform.

The 3-5% cost avoidance of traditional freight audit providers is eating your logistics strategy alive.

Get live, real-time cost savings.

Defend your freight spend with complete transparency and visibility.

Fortify cost strategies, decision making, and carrier partnerships.

Single Data SetImprove logistics data accuracy and intelligence. Get cleansed and normalized data, customized with your nomenclature.

Lost SavingsSee how much you’re losing using a non-preferred carrier based on your routing guide. Identify rules you’re not following, costing you money.

Real-Time SavingsGet insights to cost-savings delivered by new strategies. See your return-on-investment and budgets in real-time.

Charge BreakdownBreakdown charges by category and % of spend. Get in-depth detail for line-haul, fuel, and accessorials (detention, stop-charges, etc.) and more.

201909 - Freight Audit Supplement Zombie.indd 1 9/14/2019 3:10:15 AMRateLinx_AD_0919.indd 1 9/16/19 1:16 PM

http://www.ratelinx.com/strategy


experience, we can become one of thebigger players.”

Orca’s solution manages a supplychain invoice, starting from the momenta purchase order is dropped into a cli-ent’s ERP or WMS system, and all theway through each process that leads topayment. As this occurs, Orca leveragesartificial intelligence, machine learn-ing, and business intelligence to collectand clean the data it’s capturing, so itcan populate custom-made dashboardsavailable through the system. This helpssupply chain professionals analyze theirshipping data and make more effectivebusiness decisions.

After graduating university, Grossiand his brother, Matt, also an Orcaco-founder, joined the family busi-ness, 3PL Links. Grossi held variousroles in operations and sales, whileMatt led the finance and IT team. In2014, the two decided to outsource thecompany’s freight auditing function.Unhappy with the options available,they launched Orca in 2016. Business,whether measured by revenue, clients, oramount audited, has tripled or quadru-pled each year since then, Grossi says.Orca’s clients span various industries,with most having at least $20 million infreight spend.

Orca also built its own middlewaresoftware that can recognize data fromjust about any ERP, TMS, or WMS.This software identifies the data’s mean-ing and pushes it into the Orca systemso shippers can see and analyze it. “It’sseamless, and there’s no time needed forintegration. We wanted a scalable prod-uct right from the start,” Grossi says.

Because Orca collects information asit audits freight bills, clients have askedit to provide reporting that highlightsnot just their supply chain function,but also their broader operations. “Webecome their business reporting chan-nel,” Grossi says. For instance, the Orcasystem can offer SKU-level analysis, suchas how much an organization is payingto ship a case of pens to every office inNorth America.

Through Orca’s interactive dash-boards, a user can click a drop-downbox and see, for instance, the activitiesat each of its warehouses or distributioncenters, as well as the amounts eachcarrier is charging.

The Orca system recognizes expensepatterns, compares costs of alternativecarriers, and sums up total potential sav-ings or optimized costs. “Customersuncover opportunities to reduce costsor reconfigure their supply chains to bemore efficient,” Grossi says.

The company works with NorthAmerica’s largest shippers and 3PLsto “give them the accurate and cleandata that every organization needs toconfidently make decisions that impacttheir bottom line,” Grossi says. “Wealways aim for customers to recoup theirinvestment in Orca within a year.”

With innovation and customerexperience as their cornerstone values,the Grossi brothers are setting themselvesup to be the leaders in their respectivespace and push the boundaries andcapabilities of all North Americanlogistics and supply chain departments.

RATELINXUNCOVERINGLONG-TERMVALUE

RateLinx’s Intelligent InvoiceManagement solution providesactionable freight data, with no ITintegration work required by the clientcompany, says Shannon Vaillancourt,president with the Madison,Wisconsin-based firm. RateLinxworks with companies of all sizes andfrom all industries. The commondenominator? “They want to leveragetheir transportation data strategically,”he says.

In real time, the RateLinx solu-tion cleanses and standardizes fourdatasets—shipment, track and trace,

invoice, and order and item data. Thisinformation forms the foundation of a“3D” approach to data.

The first “D” is Diagnose. RateLinx,working with the customer, leveragesthe data to diagnose any challenges it’sfacing. The next “D” is Develop. Theclean, actionable data provided by theRateLinx system enables the organiza-tion to develop a solid freight invoicestrategy. The final “D” is Deploy.The company’s freight invoice strat-egy is implemented, measured, andmonitored to ensure it provides long-term value.

Because RateLinx can tap into its cus-tomers’ data feeds without requiring


“Companieswant toleverage theirtransportationdatastrategically.”

-Shannon VaillancourtPresident, RateLinx


CTLogistics_AD_0319.indd 1 3/1/19 12:10 PM


http://www.ctlogistics.com


integration work, companies don’t need to call on their internal IT depart-ments, which often are already stretched thin. This keeps costs down and allows companies to quickly leverage the value captured in their data. Often, this happens within about 30 days, Vaillancourt says.

The initial phase of data cleansing typically reveals savings of at least 5% of transportation spending, Vaillancourt says. In addition, longer-term, strategic changes, such as more effective freight rate negotiations, can unlock additional savings that average about 20%.

RateLinx offers detailed reports from which customers can export data to Excel, as well as pie charts with multiple drill-down levels that show Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). One popular KPI focuses on lost savings, such as the dollars spent by the company when it deviates from routing guides. Another KPI, Potential Savings, measures the cost of each routing rule that a company has in place, while the Shipment Status KPI measures and predicts the on-time arrival of shipments.

FINDING A SOLUTIONRateLinx worked with one customer

that was struggling to pay its carriers on time. To the customer, it appeared as if dozens of issues were preventing it from paying the freight bills. For instance, the bills would sometimes match the shipment tender, and other times they wouldn’t. The customer occasionally received invoices for which it lacked a freight rate. “They didn’t know where to begin,” Vaillancourt says.

Vaillancourt and his team started by using RateLinx’s PayLinx system to diagnose the problem. In addition to several typical invoice issues that were quickly resolved, they uncovered an unexpected problem. Some of the company’s locations were using an out-of-date routing guide. As a result, they were tendering freight to a carrier that no longer had rates in place. Armed with this insight, the customer was able

to quickly contact their locations and have them start using the latest routing guide. “This allowed our customer to save about $800,000 per week,” Vaillancourt says.

TRANS AUDITINFORMATION-RICH APPROACH, HIGH-ROI SERVICE

While many freight bill audit and payment services focus on pre-payment audits, Trans Audit, the world’s largest global freight and parcel post-audit specialist, takes a different approach.

Trans Audit uncovers and recuperates hidden value and funds in paid transportation bills. “We focus solely on a true global, multimodal post-payment audit,” says Vikki L. Van Vliet, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Trans Audit’s post-payment audit unobtrusively operates after freight audit and payment companies and internal audits. We identify and recover both overbilling and overpayment errors, and provide a secondary level of insurance, especially as carrier billing and human errors are commonplace.”

With analysts in six U.S. offices, as well as Europe, Singapore, and China, Trans Audit has been in operation for more than 40 years and employs experts in all modes of transportation.

Its clients are large-scale shippers that utilize all transport modes internationally and domestically. Trans Audit operates purely on a contingency, or benefit-sharing basis, whereby Trans Audit earns a percentage of the recoveries it ascertains.

Trans Audit identifies and recovers errors in freight rates, accessorials, distance, discounts, currency conversions, classifications, fuel, and more. It also uncovers payments to wrong parties, multiple payments, and

incorrect payment ownership—that is, bills or portions of bills that clients paid even though they were not responsible for them.

“We audit for payment accuracy and ownership, as well as tariff and contract compliance to ensure that all clients’ invoices are billed and paid correctly,” Kristy Bishop, Director Sales & Marketing, says. Trans Audit also performs a logistical trend analysis to identify recurrent anomalies, confirm that accessorial charges make sense, and clients actually received the benefit of the services billed.

To-Do List: Choosing anFBAP Provider

Look at the company’s total value proposition to ensure its solutions have real value for your supply chain.

Obtain the company’s audited financial statements to make sure it’s on solid financial footing.

Ask to see the company’s SOC 1, Type 2 report, which assesses an organization’s internal controls over a period of time.

Check whether the company has an employee dishonesty bond sufficient to cover potential losses.

Visit the provider’s operations to make sure they’re full-service processing centers.

Make sure the provider offers automated freight audit and recovery across all transportation modes.

Verify the company standardizes data. Any non-standard data should be fixed, and no data should be removed.

Check that data is presented within 24 hours and is actionable.

Make sure all actions recommended by the provider are driven by data.



Some of the largest shippers in the world have relied upon the A3 Freight Payment team to design, implement, and manage their global freight payment solution.

Let us create a solution for you.

+ 1-901-759-2966 www.a3freightpayment.com [email protected]

a3_full.indd 1 1/6/14 7:50:06 PM

Untitled-5 1 1/29/15 12:15 PM

www.a3freightpayment.com



The timeframe for which overbillingsand overpayments can be recoveredvaries based on error type andtransportation mode. For overpaymenterrors, Trans Audit typically analyzesup to five years in arrears; while foroverbilling errors, the time limits rangefrom six months to three years in arrears,depending on the mode utilized.

Via TransPortal™, Trans Audit’s onlineclaims analytics system, clients havevisibility to filed, open, and paid claims,as well as claims by mode, carrier, anderror type, among other key metrics.Clients use this valuable informationto take corrective action and makeprocess improvements.

Chad W. Kennedy, IV, President ofTrans Audit, states, “A truly consultativepost audit should also provideclients with intellectual and processimprovement insight. Trans Auditworks cooperatively and collaborativelywith its clients’ carriers to ensure anexpeditious and amicable review andrecovery process.”

Trans Audit’s proven post-auditimplementation process typically takesweeks rather than months. Trans Auditdirectly and independently obtains datafrom pre-audit companies, carriers,3PLs, or 4PLs its clients employ, aswell as from clients’ ERP, TMS, orother systems.

Trans Audit’s dedicated carrierrelations department submits,coordinates, and resolves claimscollaboratively with all carriers, withlittle or no client involvement.

As a result, clients find theimplementation process, as well asongoing support, to be efficient and non-resource intensive.

Kennedy says, “The post auditshould deliver more than just monetarybenefits; it should also providecontinuous improvement and insightinto a company’s payment processesand supplier relations. Our ultimateobjective is to deliver a non-intrusive,client-focused, information rich, high-ROI service.”

TRAXDERIVINGACTIONABLEINSIGHTS

In 2018, Trax Technologies andVeraction merged. Their customers areseeing the benefits. The mission of thecombined company, which kept the Traxname, is Total Transportation SpendManagement or TTSM, says SamirShah, chief strategy officer. To that end,it’s invested heavily in its technology plat-form. Trax, based in Scottsdale, Arizona,works with shippers of all sizes and acrossall modes.

One result of Trax’s technology invest-ment is the TTSM Rate Manager,which has been commercially avail-able since April 2019. Trax developedRate Manager because it observed manycompanies struggling to manage freightrates across their enterprises, says SteveBeda, executive vice president. Manyother systems could only handle oneor two modes of transport and were notglobal solutions.

After all, developing a rate man-agement solution for all modes oftransportation across the globe is adaunting undertaking. The system mustaccount for different rate definitions,multiple currencies, and numerous othervariables. Trax’s goal “was to provide asingle source of truth, for all modes, allcarriers, and in all regions of the world,”Beda says. Rate Manager does that.

Rate Manager also is “agnostic.” Thatis, it can synchronize rates and otherinformation across multiple platforms,such as warehouse management andtransportation management systems, aswell as other FABP providers if required,Beda adds.

Trax has invested heavily in its TotalTransportation Spend Management plat-form, which supports its freight auditcapability. “We’re leveraging best-of-breed, cloud-enabled technologies toprovide scalability,” Shah says. With this

capability, the system can easily handlespikes in companies’ operations.

Another key feature of the TTSM is itsextensibility, or ability to push and pullinformation to and from other systems.“We enable that knowledge transfer,”Shah says.

The TTSM also drives automation.“We’re removing manual processes andmaking it simpler and easier for enter-prises to create workflows that deliverbusiness outcomes,” Shah says.

Within TTSM, Trax continues toadvance its analytics suite so it can pro-vide not just descriptions of actions thathave already occurred, but prescriptiveinsight for the future. “It’s like lookingat your data in high definition,” Bedasays. Through the analytic tools, shippers

“We leveragebest-of-breed,cloud-enabledtechnologiesto providescalability.”

-Samir ShahChief Strategy Officer

Trax



TOTAL LOGISTICSTECHNOLOGY +INTELLIGENCE

In a world of complex supply chain data, go Global.

https://ctsi-global.com

can interpret data, model scenarios, andevaluate courses of action. “We helpshippers use the data to improve theirtransportation spend and overall logisticsexecution,” he adds.

For instance, Trax leveraged its busi-ness intelligence platform to provide aninternational retailer greater visibilityto its transportation costs. The retailersuncovered and eliminated a number ofinefficiencies, cutting its transportationcosts by 8%.

And by analyzing inventory costsagainst the expense of expedited airfreight at the SKU level, it cut inven-tory carrying costs by 3%—and that’s netof increased transportation costs fromboosting its use of expedited shipping.

Trax currently processes more than$12 billion in invoices each year, acrossall modes of transportation and allregions of the world, for both parcel andnon-parcel shipments.

The investments Trax has made inits technology offerings reflect the com-pany’s commitment to meeting clients’needs for freight audit tools, analysis, andinsight, over both the short- and long-term. “We’re thinking not only abouttoday and tomorrow but about what’sgoing to happen in the future,” Shahsays. “We’re well positioned to look intothe future and be a trusted advisor andsolution provider for our customers.”

U.S. BANKBUILDINGBANKABLESOLUTIONS

Through U.S. Bank Freight Payment,shippers and carriers can managefreight payments and audits across all

transportation modes with a single solu-tion. “Our primary focus is helping ourclients streamline their payment andaudit functions, and we do that by takingpaper out of the process,” says Jeff Pape,senior vice president, head of globaltransportation product and marketingwith U.S. Bank.

In a fast-paced, changing market, cus-tomers need simple, efficient payments,he adds. Because U.S. Bank’s solutionautomatically completes a pre-paymentaudit of invoices, it can eliminate pay-ment errors and ensure contract ratecompliance. Based in Minneapolis,U.S. Bank is the fifth largest bank in theUnited States.

Also through the system, both ship-pers and carriers can view funds receivedand disbursed. Prepayment audits letcarriers know they’re going to receivepayment for the full amount of servicesthey provided, while shippers can be



https://ctsi-global.com


confident their contractual business rulesand terms were met. “Both parties havea shared interest in making sure thatthey’re making the right payment at theright time,” Pape says.

U.S. Bank Freight Payment also pro-vides benchmarking data that can helpcompanies compare their processes topeer organizations or best-in-class groups.Through this analysis, they often canrealize additional savings.

For instance, Pape and his teamdiscovered a customer’s assessorialcharges were 15% higher than its peergroup. Further research showed thecustomer was being charged detentionbecause its trucks were actually arrivingbefore their scheduled times at the dock.Using this knowledge, the companyadjusted its routes and schedules tominimize detention charges. “That’swhere the science and the analytics comeinto play,” Pape says. Most customers save

between 2% and 4% of their total freightspend by catching these errors, he adds.

U.S. Bank also offers a trade financesolution that helps both shippers andcarriers maximize their working capital.

Say a carrier wants to receive paymentsooner than the terms of its contract witha shipper currently stipulates. U.S. Bankcan make the payment as soon as theinvoice is approved, and then work withthe shipper to ultimately collect the fundsowed. Conversely, for shippers lookingto extend days payable outstanding anduse some of their working capital, U.S.Bank can provide extended terms. “As abank, we can facilitate and move moneyto meet customers’ needs and provideflexibility,” Pape says.

U.S. Bank deploys a hands-onapproach that provides it with a deepunderstanding of its clients’ processes andpriorities. It can interface with its clientsin numerous ways, including paper, EDIfile transfers, and APIs. As a result, it’sable to minimize disruptions to its clients’processes, Pape says.

And as a regulated financial institution,U.S. Bank takes data and paymentsecurity seriously. “We’re regulated andheld to a standard that’s much higherthan our nonbank competitors,” Papesays. U.S. Bank has robust and matureprocesses for data security and businessand disaster recovery. Each of itsprocesses are vetted and tested quarterly.It’s one of fewer than 10 companies inthe United States that have tier-four datacenters—the highest level possible. “Iteven goes beyond the standard we’re heldto by regulators,” Pape says.


“Our primaryfocus ishelping clientsstreamline theirpayment andaudit functions.”

-Jeff Pape, SVP, Head, Global TransportationProduct and Marketing, U.S. Bank


www.igps.net


IntelligentAudit_0919.indd 1 9/10/19 12:14 PM

http://www.intelligentaudit.com



iGPSPOOLING RESOURCES

Just as FBAP services help ensure accurate freight bills, the pallet pooling company iGPS helps ensure products, and particularly grocery items, move to their desired destinations on time and intact.

“We’re a plastic pallet pooling company,” says Jeff Liebesman, chief executive officer with the Orlando, Florida-based firm. “We provide on-time, every-time quality pallets to our customer base.”

iGPS offers the only rental pallet that’s earned the NSF’s Food Equipment Certification. “iGPS pallets can easily be cleaned, won’t absorb fluids that can lead to contamination, and never require treatment with toxic pesticides or

fungicides,” Liebesman says. Formerly the National Sanitation Foundation, NSF is a non-profit organization that certifies food service equipment.

Not surprisingly, iGPS focuses on the grocery supply chain and the manufacturers that supply it. Its pallets transport their products to grocery retailers. Once the grocer no longer needs the pallets, iGPS arranges for their recovery and return. “We remove the hassle of pallet management from the manufacturer and retailer,” Liebesman says. “Neither needs to spend resources moving empty pallets.”

To add to their sustainability, plastic pallets typically weigh less than wood pallets. That means shippers often can squeeze one or two more pallet loads onto a trailer than they can when using wood pallets. “Our plastic pallets are an exemplar of the circular economy,” Liebesman says.

SUPPLY CHAIN BOOST

Shippers are taking action to become “shippers of choice” in order to move freight quickly and reliably. One step toward this goal is paying their bills on time and accurately.

Freight bill audit and payment service providers help on this front. And that’s just for starters.

They also make sure shippers don’t pay more than they owe, or more than similar shippers in their market.

With the expertise, technology, and processes to help global enterprises not just ensure billing accuracy, freight payment providers bring more value than money. As partners, they collect insights and pinpoint actions for shippers to clear a path toward a more efficient supply chain. n


Advanced Cost Recovery & Reduction Solut ions

1-845-297-9535TRANSAUDIT.COMDon’t Just Post Audit — Trans Audit!

WORLDWIDE TRANSPORTATION COST RECOVERY & REDUCTION

UNMATCHED EXPERTISE, RESOURCES, ANALYTICS & RESULTS

CONTINGENT RECOVERY OF OVERBILLINGS & OVERPAYMENTS

CONTINUOUS PAYMENT & BILLING IMPROVEMENTS

ALL MODES OF TRANSPORTATION IN ALL PLACES

TransAudit_AD_HalfPage_FIN1_0919.indd 1 9/13/19 10:27 AMSupplement_FreightPay_0919.indd 96 9/16/19 5:28 PM

http://www.TRANSAUDIT.COM

fortigo_AD_0119.indd 1 1/25/19 11:59 AM

www.fortigo.com

IT’S MORE THAN THE MONEYAR_Traffic_AD_0919.indd 1 9/10/19 12:10 PM. ... transactions, including...

Documents

Transcript of IT’S MORE THAN THE MONEYAR_Traffic_AD_0919.indd 1 9/10/19 12:10 PM. ... transactions, including...