The US transportation industry is valued at a hefty $700 billion! In fact, 5% of full-time jobs in the US belong to truckers! These truckers are an essential link between consumers and service providers all across the US; life as we know it just wouldn’t be possible without them.
But the transportation industry is also a complex one. So company owners need to be wary of common errors to make sure their profitability doesn’t get compromised. Billing errors are a major part of these errors.
Let’s learn more about them:
What is the purpose of transport billing?
Transport billing, also known as freight billing, is very to the transport process. Most importantly, it serves as a legal document. If a shipper doesn’t comply with the terms and conditions of the delivery process, consumers can use the document to hold them accountable—and vice versa.
The freight bill contains important information pertaining to both the receiver and the shipper. Other than a full description of the goods, it also mentions delivery due dates, payment terms, and addresses.
Common types of billing errors
Most freight bill mistakes arise as a result of human error. Here are some of these mistakes:
- The bill of lading, also known as the BOL, is one of the most essential documents associated with the freight shipment process. It’s most commonly used by vendors to list the weight of items. However, these are often incorrect. This happens when they rely on approximations. Any figure that has been misquoted qualifies as BOL inaccuracy.
- Some vendors also end up ‘fudging’ the freight class. This is the rate you pay for the shipment based on the classification of the product you’ve purchased. Products are categorized according to their density, handling, liability, and storability. All of these factors decide how ‘transportable’ your product is—they collectively determine freight rate per pound. Always crosscheck to make sure the vendor isn’t classifying a product wrongly to charge you a higher price tag.
- A lot of times, when companies use a third-party logistics partner, there are discrepancies in billing information. This happens when you negotiate discounts and reduced pricing with your vendor and the logistics partner doesn’t recognize these terms in the final bill. Even if you’re the vendor, this makes a bad impression on customers and may end up in a loss of trust.
To take your billing accuracy one notch ahead, considering partnering with an offshore database management service like 3Alpha. We will not only help you carry out data entry but also data mining and document scanning to avoid billing errors.