Beyond the Freight Bill Audit
A3 FREIGHT PAYMENT Customized Transportation Spend Management Delivers Superior Returns A3 Freight Payment, which recently was recognized as one of the Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Companies , focuses on delivering value to its clients through customized, quality spend management. “Freight bill audit and payment has become a tactical function,” says Craig Cameron, VP of sales and marketing. “A3 adds value for clients by pursuing savings and identifying spend manage- ment opportunities from within their supply chains,” he adds. To that end, A3’s experienced team conducts in-depth analyses of clients’ freight invoices to help them reduce expenses and increase ef ciency. They evaluate routes, freight class, modes, and carriers, among other factors. Their comprehensive analyses provide insight into shippers’ freight operations, support more effective business decisions, and identify strategic changes that can lower expenses, streamline operations, and boost pro tability. By using data from shippers’ transportation costs and pay- ments, A3’s spend analytics services help them avoid overpaying in the future. Finding Savings Opportunities A3 leverages scenario modeling and the statistical analysis capabilities found in arti cial intelligence to quan- tify and identify trends, as well as small, but costly anomalies, like inac- curate oversized charges on parcels. “Even if there aren’t many of these charges, the dollar amount of sav- ings opportunities can be sizable,” Cameron says. As important, shippers
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You also want to look for current externally audited financial statements, as well as a fidelity bond and cybersecurity protections and insurance, Cameron says. (Fidelity bonds protect against losses caused by someone else’s acts, such as acts of forgery or fraud.) In addition, freight bills contain reams of valuable information about supply chains. “The company should have established processes and procedures in place to ensure online security and maintain the integrity of trusted transactions,” Burglechner says. 6) Does the firm o¡er both flexibility and scalability? “Ideally, the firm will have expertise, the resources needed to regularly upgrade its technology, and the agility to respond quickly to clients’ needs,” says Matthews from AFS Logistics. 7) Will the provider o¡er a list of client references? “Also ask for the tenure of the provider’s top 20 clients, as well as its client termination rate over the prior year,” Matthews says. 8) How long has the company been in the core FBAP business? Some history suggests it will have staying power. 9) What expertise does the provider have in handling the growing volume of regulatory requirements from governments and clients? Companies need to evaluate and adapt to shifting requirements, such as those focused on SOC, data protection, and ESG reporting, Nolan says. 10) Does it have full-time resources in the regions, time zones, and languages in which your company has transportation activity? This can streamline communication and problem solving, nVision’s Snavely says. Similarly, in-country accounts can help in providing e¢cient and cost-eective remittance to transportation providers, he adds.
The reason it’s generally not higher? The audit provider should be correct- ing errors, so more transactions proceed accurately and savings from mistakes decline over time. Of course, transporta- tion costs should also decline. It’s on the spend management side—where A3 focuses—that the sav- ings opportunities can be signi cant, Cameron says. “We nd and highlight operational problems, like expedited shipments that don’t need to be expe- dited, or poor carrier selection,” he says. When these are addressed, the savings can range from about 5% to as high as 20% of freight spend, he adds. Another unique feature of A3 is its bankruptcy remote structure.
often can achieve the savings with min- imal effort. “You get a lot of bang for the buck,” he says. Once a shipper is an established cli- ent of a freight audit provider, ongoing savings on the audit itself generally are around one-half of 1%, Cameron says.
“Freight bill audit and payment has become a tactical function. We add value for clients by pursuing savings and identifying spend management opportunities from within their supply chains.” Craig Cameron
VP Sales & Marketing A3 Freight Payment
74 Inbound Logistics • September 2023
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