Parcel Audit Defined
Parcel audit is auditing your weekly carrier invoices to make sure they're righteous. It also makes sure you're paying the right amount every week. The three things you need to look for in a parcel audit are:
- Results
- Visibility
- Analytics
The audit itself is a pretty commoditized service. A lot of folks do it. Also, a lot of folks do it the same way. We like to think that our platform is a little unique.
Core Services at Lojistic
Our core services are analytics, auditing, and rates. So, how Lojistic handles data and analytics is different. The way that we're unique from others is you have to sign up for an audit to receive analytics. With our system, you sign up for the analytics first, and that's our platform, and that comes at no cost. Also, there's no commitment to buy any type of service. You connect your carriers to our platform. Within an hour, it'll start populating the analytics.
And the analytics identifies cost savings opportunities. It doesn't only show what a parcel audit recovery would look like. Also, it shows all the other missed opportunities embedded within your shipping characteristics.
At this point, we're gonna provide you with free analytics. Do with it what you want. There's never a commitment for you to buy anything. At some point, our platform turns cumbersome, complex data into actionable items. You might visit the FedEx or UPS website to look for analytics to see what your costs are. Or if you want to see how the latest rate increase affect you. There's no way you're will find that on a UPS or a Federal Express website.
Opportunities of Savings
In a parcel audit, all that information and turns into actual items on our website. Also, from this you can discern where any opportunities of savings could come from. Also, it could be either from an audit process, or from analyzing data and helping you get better rates. Here's an example. A competitor is going to make you sign a document, a contract or agreement to start the audit process. In my service, you don't even have to talk to a human being. You come in, you set up an account, connect your carriers, and now you get to see what are the potential refunds. Now, what we should talk about why a client is not engaging in an audit.
Many times a client would say, "An audit is important, but who do I contact? How do I discern what is the better auditor out there?" So number one, if you asked yourself a question, "Should I hire an auditor?" The answer is likely, "Yes." So the first projection is, "Do I need one?" The second thing is, many times a client will think, "This is a project." We've designed our website to streamline this process. On the website you set up an account and you connect your carriers. Also, you don't have to sign any documentation. You don't speak to anybody, but you will see real life characteristics of yourself. Again, you haven't talked to anyone, and there's no service commitment.
Parcel Audit Recovery
We could show you what the audit recovery would look like if you wanted to convert to a live audit. So you asked how do I convert to a live audit. It is as simple as saying, "I appreciate all these free analytics. I appreciate you identifying all these areas of savings opportunities. Also, if there was a live audit performed, I want to start filing for the credits. You showed me the potential, but I want to start doing live audit recovery." It's as simple as filling out a two-page form and you're done. It has about eight lines to it. Filling out the form usually takes longer than setting up an audit. Fill out eight lines, and in about three business days, I'll have you a live engaged audit.
This is an example of bad visibility. You could have a suspicion that something's not right, but you don't know where to go. It's like I stated before. The Federal Express and UPS websites will not tell you that you're not being the most efficient that you can be. Because let's face facts, efficiencies translate into dollars. So if you can be more efficient, you will be saving more money, and the parcel audit on my website will identify that. From signing on, the missed opportunities page shows you where your costs lie.
Visibility and Trends
The first thing you do as far as visibility is you want to look at trends. You think your costs are going up, and you're not sure when, or where, or how, or why. Only thing you know is you signed a contract. You told your vendors, you told your internal people, "This is how I want you to ship." And you hope that everyone is doing what you told them to do. Also, the platform on our website will show you whether they are following your guidelines. And if they're not, it will show how much is it costing you.
I have everything in its own bucket, with an ROI next to it. You may have signed a contract a month ago. You told your staff and your vendors the shipper numbers and start shipping. The next thing you know, this new contract had an adverse effect. Also, you're not saving money and your costs are going up. Where are they coming from? Where is my visibility to what's happening? Come to lojistic.com, sign into your platform page, and it will show you right then and there. You pick your own date range. It's customizable, and it'll show you where your costs or your trending costs are.
Author
Rich Harkey
Rich Harkey
Senior Strategy Manager
As the Senior Strategy Manager at Lojistic, Rich leverages over three decades of expertise to help businesses improve their shipping strategies and reduce costs. With a deep understanding of the requirements of shippers and the operational intricacies of carriers, he excels in everything from optimizing business rules and managing carrier invoices to negotiating carrier contracts.
Rich's comprehensive knowledge of the logistics industry, combined with his strategic insights and passion for data analysis, has enabled thousands of companies to gain visibility into their shipping expenses, driving impactful results.