FREIGHT BILL AUDIT & PAYMENT
costs. This can impact the audit process, especially if a company is shifting from negotiated rates to spot quotes, often because they’re not sure how long they’ll continue sourcing from a new company or location, Cameron explains. It’s possible that once things settle down, more companies will revert to negotiated rates with speci c carriers, he adds. The convergence of tariffs, disruptions, and today’s generally complex supply chains is prompting companies to focus on costs and visibility, says Michele Vernola, vice president of parcel spend management with CTSI-Global. Some costs, such as tariffs, are largely outside shippers’ control. “We’ve got to pivot and focus on the expenses we can control,” she says. With visibility into their supply chains, companies are better positioned to do this. As supply chain disruptions continue, the number of things that can go wrong with any shipment remains high, potentially impacting everyone across all modes of transportation, adds Hannah Testani, chief executive of cer with Intelligent Audit. And as supply chains become more complex, with more carriers and modes, the variance in companies’ data increases, she says. “FBAP companies play a critical role in helping shippers turn that complexity
into clarity, working alongside them to anticipate risks, uncover ef ciencies, and build more resilient operations,” she adds.
data quality, which required a shipper to manipulate data before they could conduct meaningful analysis. “A3’s Control Suite normalizes and standardizes data as part of the capture process,” Cameron says. Clean data is mandatory to effectively leverage the power of AI. Once A3 has identi ed potential cost- saving opportunities for a client, it will follow up to see how it can help the company achieve the savings, Cameron says. For example, different vendors’ procedures might inadvertently increase the client’s expenses, but the client might lack the personnel needed to address them. “We’ll tailor our technology, solutions, and human resources to the customer’s needs to enable the client to achieve those savings,” Cameron adds. A3’s solutions incorporate both technology and human expertise. “The technology gets you only so far,” Cameron says. Even when leveraging technology, organizations still need experts to validate the results and implement changes, he adds. Automating to Cut Costs A3’s transportation spend management services team currently is working with the procurement function of a company in the automotive industry. The company had been incurring chargebacks, because it was sending collect shipments to its customers, but the customers weren’t paying for them. Instead, the shipments were being billed back to the company. A3 developed an automated process that identi es these shipments and allows the company to bill customers for these records, resulting in more than $500,000 in savings. A3 is also evaluating the same company’s routing compliance, identifying areas in which company processes are noncompliant and calculating the costs incurred because of this. In total, the estimated savings A3 has uncovered exceed $1.2 million annually, Cameron says. As important as the technology, services, and expertise A3 offers is its
A3 Freight Payment: A Different Approach And a Better Result
Transportation spend management is the sole focus and core competency of A3 Freight Payment, Cameron says. A3 provides customized, comprehensive freight spend management solutions that leverage information, cutting- edge technology, and industry expertise to help organizations manage their transportation spend. A3 works with clients to create a custom solution that provides support where they need it. Shippers with large transportation or supply chain organizations may not need reporting and analysis support as opposed to those with limited resources. Regardless of size, all companies can bene t from the insights AI can reveal. A3’s reporting platform, Control Suite, is utilized to manage the freight payment process and offers data visualization and analysis that incorporates AI technology, Cameron says. Historically, when companies used traditional freight bill audit and payment data to conduct analyses, they ran into challenges with
“A3’s Control Suite normalizes and standardizes data as part of the capture process.” CRAIG CAMERON, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, A3 FREIGHT PAYMENT
58 Inbound Logistics • September 2025
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