Every freight invoice checked before it is paid, not a sample after
A manufacturer shipping from six plants pays about 5,000 carrier invoices a month and checks a sample. Velocity checks every charge against the contract, the shipment and the proof of delivery, disputes what is wrong and confirms the credit.
A manufacturer shipping by road, sea and air from six plants
Every invoice
from a sample
checked line by line before payment
Pilot target
~$1.7M a year
recovered on $60M of freight — about 3%
Worked example
1 day
from 3–4 weeks
from a wrong invoice to a dispute with the carrier
Worked example
Same day
payment of the lines that are right, so carriers are not held up
Worked example
Pilot target: the success measure a pilot is held to. Worked example: from a walkthrough on representative data.
The problem
Carrier invoices arrive as EDI, PDFs, spreadsheets and scanned waybills, from dozens of carriers at every plant. The ERP checks the total against an approved load, so a charge nobody agreed to is paid as long as the load was real.
Detention billed when the truck was unloaded inside free time, last year's lane rate, a fuel surcharge on the wrong index, a reweigh with no certificate, the same invoice sent twice under a new number. Each one is small, nobody has time to check every line, and the few that are disputed are rarely followed to the credit.
What it costs today
- Freight across six plants
- $60M a year, ~5,000 invoices a month
- Overbilled, industry estimates
- 1.5–5% of spend, $0.9–3M a year
- Cost to process one invoice
- $9.40 on average
Overbilling range from freight audit industry estimates; processing cost from Ardent Partners AP benchmarks (2025).
The solution: a team of specialist agents
Read
Reads each carrier invoice in whatever format it arrives, with the contract, rate card and fuel table behind it.
Check
Matches every charge to the rate in force on the ship date, the shipment record and proof of delivery, and holds only the lines that disagree.
Dispute
Sends each carrier one claim with the evidence attached, follows it up and checks the credit against what was disputed.
Post
Codes each cost to plant and cost centre, releases clean invoices for payment and keeps the freight accrual current.
How it works
One case, step by step, in the systems the team already uses. An illustrative case: names, times and figures are representative.
Mon 07:00
Velocity · Email · Carrier portals · SAP · TMS
Last week: 1,140 freight invoices from 62 carriers across six plants. 1,032 match contract, shipment and proof of delivery and are cleared for payment. 108 held — $41,800 over contract.
Mon 07:04
Velocity
Detention on 23 loads unloaded inside free time by the gate log ($9,200). One carrier still on last year's rates on 14 lanes ($12,600). Fuel surcharge on last month's index, 31 invoices ($6,900). 9 invoices billed twice under new numbers ($8,400). LTL reweighs with no certificate ($4,700).
Mon 07:30
Logistics manager
“Dispute all of it. Ask the carrier on old rates to correct every open invoice, not just these.”
Mon 07:45
Velocity · Email · Carrier portals · SAP
Claims sent to 17 carriers with the contract clause, gate times and proof of delivery attached. The correct lines on held invoices released for Friday's payment run.
Day 9
Carriers
“14 carriers credit $33,500 in full. Two credit short. One rejects the detention claim.”
Day 9
Velocity · SAP · Email
Credits posted and matched to each claim. Short credits chased with the difference itemised. Detention rejection sent to the logistics manager with the gate camera times.
Before, and with Velocity
| Step | Before | With Velocity |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | A sample, linehaul only | Every invoice, every charge |
| Extra charges | Paid if the load was approved | Checked against gate times and the contract |
| Rates | An old rate goes unnoticed | Compared with the rate in force on the ship date |
| Disputes | Raised when someone has time | Filed in a day, followed to the credit |
| Carriers | Whole invoice held for one wrong line | Correct lines paid on time |
What stays with your people
Payment runs stay with accounts payable. Disputes above a set amount, any change to a carrier's contract and every write-off go to the logistics manager. Each held line records the charge, the evidence and who decided.
Works inside
SAP or Oracle · Transport management system · Carrier portals · Email · Rate contracts & fuel tables · Proof of delivery & gate logs
How a pilot runs
Eight weeks on one plant's carriers, starting with a check of the last six months of paid invoices.
Questions
What does Velocity do for freight audit?
A manufacturer shipping from six plants pays about 5,000 carrier invoices a month and checks a sample. Velocity checks every charge against the contract, the shipment and the proof of delivery, disputes what is wrong and confirms the credit. The work is split between specialist agents: Read — Reads each carrier invoice in whatever format it arrives, with the contract, rate card and fuel table behind it; Check — Matches every charge to the rate in force on the ship date, the shipment record and proof of delivery, and holds only the lines that disagree; Dispute — Sends each carrier one claim with the evidence attached, follows it up and checks the credit against what was disputed; Post — Codes each cost to plant and cost centre, releases clean invoices for payment and keeps the freight accrual current.
What results does it deliver?
Every invoice (from a sample) checked line by line before payment — pilot target; ~$1.7M a year recovered on $60M of freight — about 3% — worked example; 1 day (from 3–4 weeks) from a wrong invoice to a dispute with the carrier — worked example; Same day payment of the lines that are right, so carriers are not held up — worked example. Every figure is labelled as measured in production, a pilot target, or a worked example on representative data.
Which systems does it work in?
SAP or Oracle, Transport management system, Carrier portals, Email, Rate contracts & fuel tables, Proof of delivery & gate logs. Velocity logs in with its own account and the permissions your IT team grants; there is no data migration or integration project.
What stays with your people?
Payment runs stay with accounts payable. Disputes above a set amount, any change to a carrier's contract and every write-off go to the logistics manager. Each held line records the charge, the evidence and who decided.
How does a pilot run?
Eight weeks on one plant's carriers, starting with a check of the last six months of paid invoices.
More of the work
A supplier shortfall recovered before it stops the line
₹8.6 lakhfrom ₹21 lakh
to cover a 250-unit shortfall — about $9,800, against $24,000
Worked example
Manufacturing
Orders that would miss their date, found and recovered before they slip
$4.6M
of at-risk orders surfaced in one pass
Worked example
Manufacturing