In the world of freight transportation, service failures are bound to happen. It’s impossible to account for every variable on a shipping run, and often, many are out of our control anyway. Yet, that doesn’t mean we’re completely powerless to prevent them.

Given access to service failure data from freight bill auditing, shippers will quickly see that there are ways to both tamp down on the number of service failures they deal with annually and expedite the claims process post-service failure. It all comes down to understanding the data.

Looking Shipping Failures in the Face

It’s no secret that freight squeezes have created headaches for shippers over the past several years. From the pandemic’s astronomical rates to the lingering shortage of available carriers, many companies have adapted their freight operations to carry the burden of these challenges.

Unfortunately, there’s been another pervasive challenge: The rate of service failures has nearly tripled over the past two years. Late deliveries, damaged product, bill of lading discrepancies, classification errors, and more are all on the rise — and often, out of the hands of shippers. Although they might diligently file claims and account for these failures accordingly, shippers may not realize the extent of the cost that comes with service failures until they drill down into their audit data.

Getting to the Root of Failures, to Avoid Them

Freight bill audit data seems like an unlikely place to investigate service failures; however, it provides insightful context for how to mitigate the rate at which failures occur. Moreover, it empowers shippers to recoup as much of the cost as possible in the event of a failure.

Some of the costs to consider when juxtaposing freight bill audit data against the rising prevalence of service failure rates include:

  • The cost of invoicing discrepancies that don’t accurately account for service failures
  • The cost of working with carriers that have a higher instance of service failures
  • The cost of improperly budgeting for potential service failures in the future
  • The cost of failing to account for service failures or submit claims accordingly

Freight bill audit data provides the necessary insight to avoid service failures, when possible, and to thoroughly reconcile them when they do occur.

Anticipate to Avoid; React to Recoup

Using freight bill audit data, shippers can take a two-pronged approach to mitigating the losses associated with service failures. On the front end, it’s all about choosing carriers with a lower instance of service failures and budgeting to more accurately account for potential bad debt created by these failures. On the back end, audit data can expedite claims reconciliation and give shippers the foresight to negotiate more favorable rates.

Ultimately, it’s impossible to avoid service failures in their many forms. The onus is on shippers to leverage insightful data as they seek to minimize the impact of failures. Bringing accurate and reliable freight bill audit data into the fold provides a much-needed layer of context to decision-making.

nVision Global strives to help clients leverage freight bill audit data into decision-making tools that translate into operational excellence. When it comes to service failures, we give you the insights necessary to be proactive, to mitigate the stress of these disruptions and get your operations back on track sooner — or even avoid them altogether. To learn more, visit our website at nvisionglobal.com.