Companies are starting to be more proactive in uncovering opportunities to recover money from small parcel carriers due to carrier errors and invoicing mistakes. Carriers are having a difficult time invoicing correctly. For this reason, auditing UPS and FDX invoices are necessary. Areas that need to be audited have changed in the past 12 months and are ever-changing. With all the new rate increases, surcharges, late fees and other changes, small parcel shipping is more complex than ever. During the pandemic UPS and FDX suspended their guarantees which meant shippers could no longer receive refunds for shipments that were delivered late. This guarantee was a big part of many companies’ refunds. At this time, carriers have reinstated some of the service guarantees but there is no date when they will be reinstating all guarantees if ever.
Your carrier agreement should match the rates you are being charged; therefore, an audit is required to ensure this happens. Some of the most important areas to audit besides the late package guarantees are incorrect delivery address, Dimensional audit (you could be getting charge for more weight because of the size of the box), duplicate shipments, invalid residential surcharges, and rates.
Auditing is a zero-risk practice that can significantly improve your shipping and many other areas of your business. Auditing and optimizing does more than just credit your account back for errors and receive better carrier agreements. These practices allow companies to strategically plan and determine which distribution facilities are performing best along with maximizing inbound shipping costs from suppliers and overall a better knowledge of your DC performance.