September 2021 - Audintel

Know your shipping spend from four critical shipping reports

As a shipping business, you are always on the lookout for profitability. When shipping parcels from place A to B, you need to know the cost of the shipment. Keeping a tab on the packages shipped becomes difficult for businesses. For this reason, shipping reports are vital for shipping businesses.

The shipping reports give an overview of the shipping costs. And help the shipping business save money. This article will explore the concepts of shipping spend. And the four critical shipping reports that address shippers’ spend, and save money.

What is shipping spend?

The cost incurred during shipping packages is known as shipping spend. Shipping spend includes transportation fees, accessorial fees, warehousing, labor, insurance, etc. Managing shipping costs along with labor and product costs is a balancing act for businesses. Automation and digitalization are helping companies to understand their spend management. Shipping spends management gives visibility to shipping costs. In addition, it provides insights into cost-saving opportunities and strategies for businesses to adopt.

How is shipping spend analysis improving data visibility?

Shipping businesses can manage and optimize shipping operations with the correct data. Shipping spends analysis starts with collecting data and analyzing it in detail. Data from shipping carriers, customs, shipment count, fuel purchasing system, and more are not enough. In addition, shipping businesses have to analyze real-time data with advanced technology like IoT. Advance technology improves data visibility so that shippers can make informed decisions. The data helps in reducing shipping costs for shippers.

Shipping reports aiding spend management

Proficient software tools aid in analyzing shipping spend. An automated software helps to identify the areas of financial opportunities. Based on a shippers’ key performance indicators (KPIs), the software generates shipping reports. The customized shipping reports shed light on specific shipping details and help in making data-informed decisions. Towards this end, we have detailed the four critical shipping reports that are vital for shipping businesses to understand shipping spend.

1. Annual Summary Report

A summary of all the charges per package for each service is in this report. It calculates the average cost per package for each service. The report is essentially an analysis report from a particular date range. It includes the shipping spend, the number of packages, cost per package, and the weight of the parcels for each service. For example, for a 1-day service, customers can compare the charges levied in the current year to that of last year.

2. Net Spend Summary Report

An easy-to-use report that highlights a business’ total spends and refund for each service “at a glance”. This report gives the net spend and refunds for each service weekly. It is an essential report for customers. It provides an insight to customers about the total amount spent on each package per week. Customers can manage expenses and save money by using this report.

3. Service Level Summary Report

It provides all the shipping charges by service level. The report covers expenses on the total packages, gross amount, discounts, and discount percentages for each service. The amount charged without applying any discount is known as the gross amount. In addition, the report explains the average cost, weight, and zone for each service. The average weight is the total package as against the total weight of the package. In addition, average zone means shipping to each shipping zone on average.

4. Service Summary Report

This report gives an overview of all the services the client uses. It provides details like net charges, carrier-published charges, accessorial charges, surcharges, the weight of the package, and the number of packages. Carrier-published charges are the charges to which the shipping carrier has agreed with the shipper. The report analyzes the amount the carrier charges per zone. Furthermore, it indicates the percentage with which the shipping carrier is increasing their deliveries.

Benefits of shipping reports

Shipping spends analysis is characterized by shipping reports. The information in the shipping reports helps shippers in optimizing their shipping strategy. Further, it improves the visibility of the shipping data. And help shippers root out invalid charges claimed by shipping carriers. Audintel gives customers an overview of their shipping costs with these reports. Audintel provides in-depth shipping spend information. Customers can make decisions with the data received from shipping reports.

Closing remarks: Shipping businesses worry that their expenses do not cost them dearly. With this in mind, shippers try to gain more information about their shipping spend. However, the process takes a lot of time and money. But, when you partner with a parcel audit company like Audintel, life becomes easy. Audintel provides customized shipping reports that provide spend management solutions to their customers. As a result, customers have critical data insights in their hands to negotiate with shipping carriers concerning their shipping spend. To learn more about shipping reports, contact us at [email protected]. You can also learn about us by visiting our Audintel website or call us at +1 (619) 354 8539.

A simple way to verify freight bills, using freight audit services

Freight Audit Services help in auditing the process which is essential for shipping companies. Shipping large volumes of goods at a fast pace and at less cost is vital for shipping businesses. Freight are shipments that weigh more than 150 lbs. Transportation of freight is a complex logistic process. Shippers have to pay freight bills to shipping carriers for freight transportation.

Factors like modes of freight transportation, distance, type of shipping goods influence the invoice amount. An audit is required to verify the invoices. In this article, we will discuss freight audits, their types, and the benefits of using freight audit services.

Overview of Freight transportation modes

There are different modes of freight transportation: road, air, maritime, rail, intermodal, and multimodal. Transporting goods by these modes have a different impact on businesses.

Road transport is the most popular mode of transportation used by shippers. Businesses that transport thousands of packages use trucks or trailers. There are two types of road transport: Full Truck Load (FTL) and Less-than-Truck Load (LTL). In FTL, shippers can ship a truckload of freight and pay for the full truck. While, in LTL, shippers only pay for the part of the truck that contains their goods but takes a longer shipping time.

Maritime (Ocean) transportation is the slowest mode but transports the highest volume of freight. They are two types: Full Container Load (FCL) and Less-than-Container Load (LCL).

Air cargo transportation is the fastest mode of transportation for shippers. Shipping carriers transport high-value freight and require quick delivery by this mode.

What is Freight Audit?

A business process where a shipper’s freight bills undergo examination, analysis, and verification is a Freight Audit. Freight bills are invoices from a shipping carrier to a shipper. Advanced software is in use to analyze freight bills for accuracy. A freight audit finds billing inaccuracies and saves money for shipping businesses.

Types of Freight Audit

A freight audit process can be manual, automated, or a combination of both. A Manual Freight Audit process is time-consuming and may lead to errors. The Automated Freight Audit process uses sophisticated software to give consistent and quick results. There are different types of audits based on factors affecting the freight invoices.

1. Freight rate audit

Shippers and carriers decide on a tariff for freight transportation. Freight rate auditing checks the freight bill entry process. The audit is on the transportation charges and discounts. The shippers find it hard to calculate tariff rates as it varies based on a variety of parameters like shipper address (city, state, country, zip) to consignee address (city, state, country, zip), the permutations and combinations are generally exponentially high. Automated freight rate audit of Audintel can verify the freight rates charged by shipping carriers. We identify if there is overcharging or tariff rate change by the shipping carriers. We will raise a dispute with the carrier and get the carrier to properly charge the client.

2. Duplicate Invoice audit

An audit helps in identifying shipments that have multiple duplicate invoices. For example, if a single consignment has two closely matching invoice numbers, shippers may end up paying twice. Audintel conducts audits on shipments based on parameters such as invoice date, the weight of the shipment, bill of lading (BOL), invoice amount to prevent duplicate invoicing. Invoices that are duplicates are moved to zeropayclose and not forwarded to the client for payment.

3. Three-way Match audit

A three-way match audit involves three parties, the shipper, shipping carrier, and the auditor. It requires matching the invoice of the shipping carrier with the shipper’s match file. The match file comprises invoice records and estimated shipping price. The auditor compares the files and invoices to check for any errors in the invoice of the carrier.

4. Surcharge Audit

Other than transporting charges, freight carriers offer facilities to shippers. The facilities include lift gate charges, toll fees, additional handling charges, and more. There is an agreement between our client and shipping carriers regarding fees. Audintel audits surcharge levied by the shipping carriers and ensures that there is no overcharging.

5. Fuel Surcharge Audit

Fuel costs vary every day. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announces weekly fuel prices on its website. The freight carriers adjust the fuel surcharge amount based on EIA published fuel prices based on the pre-agreed weekly days with the client. Audintel is a freight audit service provider that monitors any additional fuel surcharge applied by the shipping carriers during shipment.

Benefits of Freight Audit Services offered by Audintel

Audintel saves money for its customers with its freight audit services. It is a tall claim. Our customers can see the benefits of partnering with us. Our software helps customers

Review freight invoices
Minimize billing errors
Save time and money
Optimize supply chain operations
Calculate fuel surcharge rates
Make the freight billing process simple

Audintel has the best freight audit software that takes care of shippers’ freight billing.

To summarize

Shippers need to invest time and resources to verify freight bills. Businesses are losing money and time by manually tracking freight bills. Shipping businesses recover 5% to 10% of their freight costs through auditing. By using freight audit software, shippers have better control over their transportation expenses. Freight auditing is a way to control a shipper’s freight spend. Audintel is providing real-time information through its intuitive dashboard. We use state-of-the-art technology to audit freight invoices and save money for our customers. For further details, write to us at [email protected] or please visit our Audintel website or call us at +1 (619) 354 8539.

Do you know about the timeline to apply for a refund when FedEx delivers packages late?

When FedEx packages reach late, shippers receive flak for it. Most of the time, shipping carriers are responsible for the delay. Nevertheless, shippers can claim compensation for FedEx delays. But, they miss the deadline to claim a refund.

Shippers need a dedicated team to handle this process. Partnering with an audit company like Audintel gives shippers breathing space. This article will discuss the process and the time to claim compensation when FedEx delivers a package late.

FedEx services that promise MBG compensation

FedEx offers Money-Back Guarantee (MBG) for late deliveries. FedEx’s MBG can be suspended, modified, or revoked at their sole discretion. FedEx offers MBG to all U.S. shipments, commercial and residential, in 50 states. The following services are eligible for FedEx MBG.

FedEx International First
FedEx Priority Overnight
FedEx First Overnight
FedEx Standard Overnight
FedEx International Priority
FedEx International Priority Freight

For instance, if a parcel delivered by FedEx Standard Overnight service is late by even a minute to a U.S. business, the shipper is eligible for a refund.

FedEx delivery time and limitations

FedEx estimated delivery time differs on various factors, including the services selected by businesses. Here FedEx Ground services deliver domestically in 1-5 business days. And FedEx International Services in 1-4 business days. By business days, we mean working days, Monday-Friday. And does not include weekends.

There are some limitations to the FedEx delivery time. For example, scheduled shipments on holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. The delivery of such shipments will be on the next business day.

Refunds for FedEx service failures

For many audit points, FedEx offers refunds. These audit points include late deliveries, lost shipments, duplicate charges, address correction charges, and more. If a package is late by even 60 seconds, FedEx offers a 100% refund of the shipping costs. However, FedEx does not inform businesses when there is late delivery. So, don’t be surprised if the courier refuses to refund based on their MBG policy.

The process to file a claim with FedEx for late delivery

It is a complex process to file a compensation claim. Especially for FedEx’s late delivery of packages. Initially, businesses have to identify the shipments delivered by FedEx for late delivery. After identification, they have to request a refund. There are a few ways to request a refund from FedEx.

Shippers can submit a request by writing a mail to FedEx
They can submit a request through customer support by calling 1 (800)463-3339
Businesses can submit a request online on the FedEx website.

Online claim for compensation on the FedEx website

There are some steps involved in filing an online claim for compensation. The steps involve:

Logging onto the FedEx website and selecting the claim type
Completing and submitting an online claim form to FedEx
Tracking the status of the claim

The process may sound simple, but doing it is not. Shipping businesses send thousands of packages every day through FedEx. And so, tracking each package for late delivery while claiming compensation for it is tedious.

Time to file FedEx claims

There is a short period to file claims for any of FedEx’s service failures. For instance, the time to claim a refund for each FedEx late delivery is 15 calendar days from the shipping date or invoice date. It is a race against time for shippers to file for late delivery claims.

So, it is vital to have parcel audit companies like Audintel to help shipping businesses.

Audintel makes it easy to claim compensation from FedEx Late Delivers

Our automated shipping solutions are monitoring FedEx’s late deliveries for our customers. We help shipping businesses save money by receiving refunds. Audintel reduces the time spent on claiming compensation for shippers. The advanced technology at Audintel monitors each package that has a late delivery. We help shipping businesses file a claim with FedEx for service failures. Audintel audits each shipment to track the refund that is due. Our intuitive dashboard gives a clear picture to shippers regarding their refunds. Moreover, customers can track the progress of each package refund on the dashboard.

It gets exhausting and stressful for shipping businesses if they do not claim compensation in time. Further, getting in touch with FedEx customer support for each FedEx late delivery is not feasible. At Audintel, shippers can avoid the stress of claiming compensation in time. Audintel has the most advanced, scalable technology platform that provides insights into each shipping portfolio. Thus, claiming compensation for late delivery of FedEx parcels is made to look easy by Audintel. For further details, write to us at [email protected] or please visit our Audintel website or call us at +1 (619) 354 8539.

Get refunds with UPS Guaranteed Service Refund

Get refunds for late deliveries with UPS Guaranteed Service Refund

Shipping couriers promise on-time parcel delivery. But, did you know that if a UPS package delivery is late, you can ask for a refund? Many business owners don’t realize this because UPS does not advertise this fact due to obvious reasons. This blog will cover the different aspects of UPS refunds and claims. It will also cover the importance of audit companies like Audintel that simplify the refund process.

UPS’ Refund Policy for late deliveries

Shipping carrier UPS promises a refund policy, Guaranteed Service Refund (GSR), for on-time delivery of packages. Their policy guarantees that packages will arrive by a specific date and time. Shippers qualify for a service refund if a parcel does not. For instance, a UPS Next Day Air package delayed by 60 seconds is eligible for a refund by UPS to the shipper. UPS will refund all the shipping charges to the shipper on request. However, there are certain limitations to UPS’ GSR policy.

What are the limitations to UPS’ refund policy?

UPS offers a free money-back guarantee only for certain services. UPS GSR is available for services like UPS Next Day Air® Early, UPS Next Day Air®, UPS Worldwide Saver, and more. Some of the limitations to UPS’ Guaranteed Service Refund (GSR) include:

Additional handling fees
Fuel surcharges
Natural disasters, war risks, acts of God, etc.
Adverse weather conditions
Insufficient information provided by shippers
Hazardous Materials Packages improper for transport
Unavailability or refusal of a person to accept the shipment delivery
Packages that are exceeding maximum weight or size limits
Disruption in communication systems

UPS has listed further limitations under its Terms of Service that you can check on its UPS website.

What is the process to receive UPS Guaranteed Service Refund?

The process to receive UPS GSR is complex. The process involves tracking each shipment with its tracking numbers. Also, there is identification and separation of shipments based on their time of delivery. Further, there has to be segregation based on the limitations imposed by UPS. Finally, shippers have to request a refund for a package that was delivered late. The completion of the entire process has to be within 15 days from the scheduled delivery date of the shipment. Shippers have to involve additional resources so that shippers get refunds. Audintel helps its customers in receiving refunds from UPS within the stipulated time.

Requirements for receiving UPS Refund

Shippers have to fulfill the following conditions to receive UPS Guaranteed Service Refund. These conditions include:

Shipping documents with the correct shipping labels under UPS guidelines on labeling
Proper documentation accompanying the package from the country of origin or destination
Shipment should not have additional handling requirements
Notification for a request for refund
The parcel has to be tendered to UPS on or before the collection time as specified by UPS
Shippers have to provide Timely Upload information (complete shipment details) to UPS fifteen minutes before the collection time

What are the steps to request a UPS refund?

Shippers can submit a request for a refund for the late delivery of a package. The request/claim to UPS can be in two ways.

By Calling 1-800-PICK-UPS ® (1-800-742-5877) and saying the word, refund.

Logging on to the UPS Billing Centre and selecting -Request a Refund.

The latter option is for customers with payment accounts. The request/claim should be within 15 days from the scheduled delivery date. Shippers provide the customer’s name and address, date of shipment, parcel weight, and UPS tracking number to receive a refund from UPS. The refunds are usually credited into shippers’ accounts within 7-10 business days after dispute settlement.

UPS refunds and claims made easy by Audintel

There is a need to audit each shipment to manage UPS refunds. Each stage of small parcel shipment is vital for businesses. Audintel provides parcel audits and other essential services to shippers. Automated systems used by Audintel make the refund process simpler. The systems monitor and track each package carefully so that shippers can ask for refunds from UPS. Any invoicing errors, any extra surcharges are part of the claims made to UPS. Audintel helps shippers recover unclaimed refund amounts with ease. Audintel has found that shippers can save as much as 5% of their total spend from UPS’ GSR policy.

To summarize

Who wouldn’t want a refund for unfulfilled services? UPS guarantees a refund for its service failures and shippers are entitled to claim and receive a refund for any lapses. While requesting a refund is a complex process, with Audintel as a partner, claiming refunds for unsatisfactory service from shipping carriers, such as UPS is easy. Audintel ensures that refunds are credited directly into shippers’ accounts. Audintel works tirelessly towards customer satisfaction. Our team of experts is regularly enhancing our customers’ parcel shipping experience. For further details, write to us at [email protected] or please visit our Audintel website, or contact us at +1 (619) 354 8539.

Received a package late? Request for a refund for late deliveries

In the U.S., Parcel deliveries get delayed by about 3-5% on average. Not to mention, 51% of the customers want a refund if a package arrives late. As a result, shippers face customer complaints that can affect their business in the long run.

Shipping carriers do not make it easy for shipping companies to receive refunds with complex request procedures. To make the refund process more efficient and convenient for customers, shippers need an easy way to get refunds. In this blog, we will explore the process for receiving refunds from shipping carriers and why partnering with Audintel is an advantage for shippers.

The Refund policy of shipping carriers

Different shipping carriers have different refund policies for late parcel deliveries. Shipping carriers promise to deliver packages on time with a refund policy in place for delayed shipments. The refund policy is also known as a money-back guarantee. The policy states that if there is a delay in parcel delivery by a minute or more, the shippers can get a refund on request.

How to receive a refund for late deliveries

To begin with, shippers must identify the delay in parcel delivery. This is an intensive process where the company needs to track each parcel delivery for any delays. Further, refund requests need to be submitted individually for each delayed delivery. Usually, there are two ways of submitting a refund request.

Contacting the shipping carrier’s customer service hotline

Logging on to the carrier’s online Billing Centre for customers with payment accounts

For different services, shippers have to contact separate customer care numbers.

The time frame for filing a request to a refund for late deliveries

A request for a refund should be within 15 calendar days from the invoice date or from the scheduled delivery date. A refund request for USPS’ Priority Express Mail has to be within 30 days from the mailing date. Further, a form needs to be filled manually along with document submission.

Documentation to request for a refund for late deliveries

The documents required to request a refund are:

Tracking number
Scheduled delivery date and time
Origin and destination ZIP codes

The refund does not include taxes and fuel surcharges. Shippers have to pursue the matter with the concerned shipping carrier to make sure the refund deposit is in the correct account. The approval of a refund is subject to exceptions made by shipping carriers.

Delivery exceptions posed by shipping carriers

Some of the delivery exceptions are:

Shipping carriers providing evidence of timely delivery
Weather delays and natural disasters
A wrong or damaged shipping label on packages
Incomplete addresses
Recipient not available at the address
Custom delays due to improper documentation

These exceptions may be issued when there is a delay in a package. Shippers have to take responsibility when these exceptions occur to preserve customer relationships. So, the entire process for a refund is tedious for a shipping company. More so, if the shipper has thousands of packages shipped daily. To manage this mammoth task, shippers need experts to help them in the refund process. An audit company like Audintel will help shippers in the refund process.

Advantage of partnering with Audintel

Audintel saves close to 2-5% of a client’s shipping spend by making the entire refund process transparent and efficient. Shippers are in complete control of their profiles while Audintel’s software automatically monitors the shipments. On top of it, Audintel has a call center where they call on the packages which are denied in the automatic refund process. Audintel’s dashboard is intuitive and tracks all shipments in real-time as Audintel’s team reviews the invoices for each shipping carrier. We submit refund requests on a client’s behalf. The client receives the refund amount in their account. Partnering with Audintel is vital for efficient shipping operations.

Conclusion

Parcel delivery refunds are a time-consuming process for shippers. Claiming refunds for late parcel deliveries from multiple carriers is tedious. Experts like Audintel help shippers in saving time and money. Audintel provides excellent support to a client’s supply chain capabilities. We help in reducing shipping costs by requesting refunds whenever there is a delay. For overall efficiency, contact Audintel to audit shipments for you. For further details, write to us at [email protected] or please visit our Audintel website or contact us at +1 (619) 354 8539.