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Accessorial Charge Audit

Accessorial charges proved or disputed from the stop's own records: the appointment in force at arrival, the receiver's signed times and the contract clause, argued from the carrier's side before anyone signs.

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See one delivery stop's extra charges re-timed ↓
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The problem

The receiver moved the appointment at dawn, and the TMS never heard

Detention, lumper and liftgate arrive as single lines under the linehaul. Proving one takes the bill of lading, the signed delivery receipt with the receiver's handwritten times, the appointment and who moved it, the truck's geofence, a lumper receipt the carrier did not attach, and the clause that says when detention starts.

Nobody can assemble that in the minutes an invoice gets, so most lines are paid as billed. The ones that are disputed often use the appointment still sitting in the TMS, after the receiver had moved it by email, and the carrier wins the argument.

Meanwhile the customer whose dock held the truck rarely hears what it cost, and the contest window runs quietly in the background.

Built forShippersFreight audit managersAccessorial auditorsTransportation plannersAccounts payable teams

The Problem Today

Extra charges land as one line on a carrier invoice, while the proof sits in several systems and a receiver's pen.

39.3%
of truck stops where drivers reported detention in 2023 published

Assembled by hand, stop by stop

  • Bills
  • Receipts
  • Appt emails
  • Gate times
  • Appointments moved by emailThe receiver changes the time and the TMS keeps the old one
  • Lumper paid with no receiptLines go through with nothing attached to compare

The Solution

  1. One clock per delivery stopAppointment, truck, receiver, free time and the bill on one track
  2. The carrier's case argued firstA challenger finds the moved appointment before a dispute goes out
  3. Carriers answer in fixed fieldsReceipt number, amount and release time; notes are read by the auditor
  4. The manager signs after the replayApprove and dispute amounts, then short-pay in the payment run

Built-in controls

  • Sign stays locked until the clock is opened
  • Each time on the clock opens its source
  • Customer recharges decided by customer service

What You Get

The shipper pays what each stop's records support and contests the rest inside the window.

180 days
to contest a motor carrier's bill after receipt, federal law published
  • Patterns found with one instructionOne carrier's lines at one dock re-timed together
  • Customers told what their dock costCustomer service decides whether to recharge
  • Rulings that carry to the next stopA manager's ruling becomes a rule only once approved
Features

Accessorial charges audit features, from the invoice line to the short-pay

Accessorial auditors and freight audit managers use them to settle detention, lumper and liftgate lines before the payment run. The screens follow one retail delivery with three extra charges.

demoThis stop, its carrier, its people and its dollars are a made-up sample.

  1. 01Stop clock

    Detention charges rebuilt on one stop clock, minute by minute

    • Five lanes on one hour track. Appointment, truck, receiver, free time and the carrier's bill line up, so the gap between billed and owed shows at a glance.
    • Free time from the appointment in force. Free time starts from the appointment that stood when the truck arrived, so a moved appointment no longer turns an owed charge into a lost dispute.
    • One carrier's lines checked on request. The auditor can ask for the same check across a carrier's lines at one dock, and the extra step is recorded with the auditor's name and the time.
  2. 02Appointment email

    Moved appointments found in the receiver's own email thread

    • Headers and times read as sent. The thread shows who moved the appointment, when and who was copied, so the time in force is a fact rather than a guess.
    • The stale TMS time flagged. When the TMS still shows the booked time, the clock says so, and the planner can update it after opening the email.
  3. 03Delivery receipt

    Signed POD in and out times read from the receiver's handwriting

    • The receiver's times, not the driver's report. Arrival and release come from the signed POD, the record the contract names, with the passage the agents read highlighted.
    • Geofence kept as a cross-check. When the GPS exit differs from the POD by less than the set tolerance, a standing rule keeps the POD time.
  4. 04Carrier's case

    Each extra charge argued as the carrier's billing desk would

    • Six objections raised before the draft is trusted. Release at the geofence, the driver's reported time, the lumper statute and the liftgate on the shipper's own BOL are each answered, asked of the carrier or conceded.
    • The agents' own first pass overturned. The point that finds the moved appointment stops the draft, and the disputed detention falls to what the records support.
    • Concessions where the record backs the carrier. A liftgate the shipper's own bill of lading asked for stands, so the dispute carries only lines the records support.
  5. 05Carrier portal

    Lumper fee receipt and release time asked of the carrier in fixed fields

    • Receipt, amount, payee and image as fields. The lumper line is compared with what the receipt says, rather than with what the invoice claims.
    • Release time with its source named. The carrier says whether its time comes from the geofence, the POD or the driver, so the auditor knows which record it relies on.
  6. 06Carrier's answer

    Carrier answers that change a charge only through their fields

    • Each field marked with what it changed. The receipt amount changes the lumper line; the release time meets the standing rule and the POD time holds.
    • The carrier's note blocks the decision. A handling fee claimed in free text changes nothing, and the stop cannot be proposed until the auditor reads it.
  7. 07Proposal

    Approve and dispute amounts proposed line by line, with a past ruling shown

    • Each charge split into approve and dispute. The auditor proposes amounts per line, each resting on the sources the clock shows.
    • The manager's last ruling at the moment of decision. A past ruling on POD time against geofence time sits beside the proposal, so like cases are decided alike.
  8. 08Clock replay

    The stop clock replayed for the freight audit manager before signing

    • The whole stop at full width. The manager sees every time, its source and the agents' confidence as the auditor proposed it.
    • A replay that must be opened. Opening the replay is one of three checks the manager makes before the sign button works.
  9. 09Sign-off

    Two-person sign-off after the replay, the POD and the contract are opened

    • Three items opened before signing. The replay, the signed POD and the accessorial schedule are each opened before sign is allowed.
    • Maker and checker kept apart. The auditor prepares and the manager signs or sends back, and nobody signs a decision they prepared.
  10. 10Look-back

    Detention charges billed from moved appointments, found across one carrier

    • One steer re-times a carrier's lines at one dock. Each line is re-timed from the appointment in force at its own arrival, and the lines billed from a moved appointment are counted.
    • Earlier invoices flagged inside the window. Amounts above the clock on earlier invoices are totaled, all inside the contest window, and the auditor can propose a recovery dispute.

Who audits accessorial charges, and what each of them takes away

Four desks touch one extra charge, from the time on the dock to the payment run.

Accessorial auditors

Run each stop, ask carriers for records and propose approve and dispute amounts

  • One clock per stop, each time sourced
  • Receipts and release times back as fields
  • Look-backs across a carrier in one instruction
Freight audit managers

Sign decisions, approve rulings and settings, confirm recharge amounts

  • A replay of the stop before signing
  • Earlier rulings beside each new decision
  • Patterns by carrier and receiver
Transportation planners

Keep TMS appointments right and own the lane defaults on bills of lading

  • Appointments the receiver moved, beside what the TMS says
  • Lane defaults that request unneeded services
  • A TMS update offered once the email is opened
Customer service managers

Decide whether a customer is billed for a charge its dock caused

  • What happened at the dock, with sources
  • What was paid to the carrier
  • The customer's earlier recharges
Around the stop

The lines queue, moved appointments, recharges, the pay run and rulings

The planner, customer service, payables and the manager each pick up a piece of the same stop.

Before the agents readOnly the carrier's billed detention sits on the track. No time is marked and nothing is approved or disputed until the records are read.
Extra-charge lines438 lines on 291 invoices: 397 matched their evidence and wait in carrier batches, 41 need a person before the 17:00 cutoff, each drawn as a small clock.
Appointments movedTimes the receiver moved, beside what the TMS still says, and a lane default that asks for a liftgate at a dock with doors.
Customer rechargeWhat happened at the customer's dock and what was paid, with sources. Whether to bill the customer is a customer-service decision; the agents give no view.
Payment runLinehaul, fuel and liftgate set to pay, detention and lumper short-paid, and the $275.00 held until the dispute is resolved.
RulingsThis stop produced a proposed rule, to check the appointment thread before the TMS; it waits for the manager. Rules in force show their rulings and use.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Seven systems behind one stop clock

The agents read each one and cite the passage; the customer portal is read with a read-only login.

Transportation management systemLoads, bills of lading and booked appointments
Carrier invoicesElectronic invoices and the PDF behind each
Document managementSigned delivery receipts and lumper receipts
EmailAppointment threads with their headers
Customer appointment portalsThe appointment in force and gate times
Visibility feedGeofence entry and exit for each truck
Carrier agreementsEach carrier's accessorial schedule, free time and rates

A dispute goes out on two signatures, and a recharge on customer service's

The agents rebuild the stop and draft the decision; people send, pay and bill.

The manager signs every decisionThe auditor proposes; the freight audit manager opens the replay, the POD and the schedule, then signs or sends back.
Holds act at once, releases waitA disputed amount is held immediately, and money moves only after a signature.
Recharges belong to customer serviceThe customer service manager decides whether to bill a customer, and the manager confirms the amount.
No legal view and no verdict on a carrierAgents never call a carrier dishonest; blocking or reporting one takes a named person plus a second.

Six agents read the stop, and none of them sends a dispute

Each one cites what it read, and anything it cannot settle stops with the auditor.

Line reader

Splits the extra charges on each invoice and ties them to the load, the bill of lading and the schedule.

  • Never changes an amount
Time keeper

Builds the stop clock from the TMS, portal, geofence and POD, applies the detention clause and runs look-backs.

  • Never uses a time without its source
  • Never guesses a time no record holds
Receipt checker

Reads lumper receipts and the special-service boxes on the bill of lading.

  • Never approves a lumper line without a receipt
Outside requests

Reads customer appointment portals and drafts carrier requests in fixed fields.

  • Sends only when the auditor says
  • Lets no free text change a stop
Carrier's case

Argues each charge as the carrier would and stops the draft on a point the agents cannot answer.

  • Never approves or disputes
Dispute writer

Writes the decision line by line with its clause and sources, and drafts the recharge note.

  • Never sends a dispute

What freight audit teams ask about accessorial charges

What are accessorial charges?

Accessorial charges are the extras a carrier bills on top of linehaul and fuel: detention, lumper, liftgate, inside delivery, layover and the like. This solution audits accessorial charges stop by stop against the records that prove or disprove each one.

How do you dispute detention charges in trucking?

Rebuild the stop from the appointment in force at arrival, the signed POD times and the free time in the carrier agreement. Here a challenger first takes the carrier's side, the auditor proposes, the manager signs, and the dispute goes out in the carrier's portal.

What if the carrier sends no lumper fee receipt?

The line is held and the carrier is asked for the receipt number, amount, payee and image in fixed fields. The lumper line is approved at the receipt amount, and a fee the agreement does not allow is disputed.

Which time decides detention, the POD or the GPS?

The signed POD, as the contract names it. The geofence is a cross-check, and a standing rule the manager approved says when the POD time holds.

Does it handle LTL accessorial fees?

Detention, lumper and liftgate are audited on truckload and LTL bills. Reweigh and reclass lines are handed to the LTL classification desk.

Who decides whether to bill the customer?

The customer service manager, with the facts of what happened at the dock and what was paid. The freight audit manager confirms the amount; the agents give no view.

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Bring one detention line
you paid last month.

We will put that stop on one clock with you and show what its records support.

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