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Freight Billing

Freight billing that reads each proof of delivery mark by mark, then builds the invoice line by line to the customer's own billing guide, with a proof behind every charge.

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The problem

The short-pay was written on the delivery copy before anyone billed

A billing specialist opens the morning's delivery copies one image at a time: a signature cut off at the edge, glare across the count, a fax streak through the stamp, a second page nobody photographed. Each is matched by hand to the bill of lading and the order, and the charges keyed from the rate confirmation.

Then every customer wants something different. The purchase order on the first line, the documents merged into one file, fuel on the pickup week or the delivery week, a receipt behind each lumper, a portal batch that closes on a weekday afternoon. Most of those rules live in people's heads and on sticky notes.

Weeks later a remittance arrives short, and collections traces the reason by hand. It is usually something the delivery copy or the billing guide already said, and since nobody turns it into a rule, the same deduction returns next month.

Built forCarrier billing teamsBilling supervisorsCollections specialistsControllersCustomer service teams

The Problem Today

Nothing can be billed until the delivery copy is signed, readable and complete, and then each customer pays only on its own terms.

180 days
for a shipper to contest a bill, or a carrier to rebill extras published

Read by eye at the billing desk

  • Signer
  • Piece count
  • Seal number
  • Lumper slip
  • The same deduction comes backCollections traces it by hand, and it never becomes a rule
  • A portal batch missedThe invoice waits for the customer's next weekly run

The Solution

  1. Each delivery copy read on the imageSignature, times, stamp, count, exception and seal ringed where they sit
  2. Built to the customer's own cardReferences, layout, fuel table, receipts and portal applied as the lines form
  3. Challenged as the payer wouldA challenger reads each draft as the customer's payables desk, our own drafts included
  4. Exceptions signed by two peopleThe specialist decides; the supervisor opens both documents and releases

Built-in controls

  • A charge with no proof stays off the invoice
  • Notes from outside parties change no invoice line
  • An exception invoice needs a second signature

What You Get

Invoices reach each customer built the way its payables team checks them, with a proof behind each line.

$0.82M
freed if billing moves two days sooner on $150M (assumed) our estimate
  • Short-pays turned into rulesA proposed rule applies once the billing supervisor approves it
  • Refused freight sent to claimsBilling notes the exception; cargo claims weighs liability
  • Released before the batch closesException invoices reach the portal inside the customer's cut-off
Features

Freight billing software features, from the signed POD to the portal

The billing specialist works yesterday's deliveries here each morning; the supervisor releases what carries an exception.

demoThe carrier, its customers, the loads and the amounts shown are sample data.

  1. 01POD lightbox

    POD processing with each mark ringed on the delivery copy

    • Seven marks read on each proof of delivery. Signature, printed name, times, stamp, count, exception and seal each carry a ring and a confidence, so you check the reading against the paper itself.
    • Deliveries sorted before you sit down. Each proof lands as ready, short, exception or unreadable, so the morning starts on the loads that need a person.
    • Every reading tied to the page it came from. The rate confirmation, order, detention record or receipt photo opens at the passage an agent read, so you check its work in place.
  2. 02Count mark

    Pallet count and receiver's exception enlarged before anyone bills

    • Any mark opens enlarged. The ringed passage shows what the reader took from it and how sure it is, so a smudged count is checked before it is billed.
    • Exceptions carried as the receiver wrote them. The note reaches the invoice in the receiver's words, which is what the customer's payables team compares it with.
    • Seal at delivery matched to the bill of lading. A seal that differs from the one at origin surfaces while billing still holds the load.
  3. 03Billing card

    Freight invoice built line by line to each customer's billing guide

    • The customer's rules as chips. PO placement, merged file, fuel week, receipts, detention terms and portal cut-off each show passed or pending, so you see what still blocks the invoice.
    • A source on every invoice line. Linehaul opens the rate confirmation, fuel the index and table, detention its record, so the payables team finds the proof behind each charge.
    • No extra charge without its proof. A lumper fee stays flagged until a readable receipt with its number, amount and date is attached.
  4. 04Fuel table

    Fuel surcharge priced on the customer's own table and diesel week

    • The fuel clause read as written. The highlighted sentence says which week of the weekly diesel average applies, so the surcharge lands in the band the customer pays on.
    • Pickup week or delivery week, per customer. The card records which one each customer uses, so a price keyed when the order was entered does not reach the invoice.
  5. 05Payables check

    Each freight invoice challenged the way the customer's AP team reads it

    • Each reason to short-pay listed. Each point reads fixed, answered with a source, waiting on outside, or needs a person, so you see which deductions are settled and which still wait on someone.
    • The agents' own drafts challenged too. Mistakes in work the agents built, such as fuel on the wrong week, are repriced before anyone relies on the draft.
    • An owner on every point. Pricing and layout go back to the agent that built the line; how to bill an exception goes to the billing specialist.
  6. 06Requests out

    Lumper receipts and POD re-photos requested in fixed fields

    • Structured requests with a due time. The unloading service is asked for receipt number, amount, date, load or PO and the file, so the answer fits straight onto the invoice line.
    • Re-photo requests in the driver app. A cut-off or blurred delivery copy goes back to the driver naming the page to retake, from the cab.
    • Outside notes go to a named person. A note beyond the fixed fields changes nothing on the load and holds the release until that person reads it.
  7. 07Steer

    Hold one customer's invoices in plain words while the run continues

    • Type an instruction to the agents. A hold on one customer takes effect at once and is logged, so invoices its portal would reject wait while the rest of the run goes on.
    • Looser changes wait for the supervisor. Lifting a hold needs the billing supervisor, and a steer that says not to do something changes nothing.
  8. 08Bill now or wait

    Bill now or wait: exception invoice options with their cash dates

    • Three ways to bill, played forward. Bill every line today, rebill the extra on a supplemental invoice, or wait a batch, each with its cash date and its short-pay risk.
    • Days to pay and short-pay rates editable. They start from the customer's own payment history, and each cash date moves as you change them.
  9. 09Release queue

    Exception invoices released by the billing supervisor, documents opened

    • Maker and checker are two people. The billing specialist decides how to bill an exception and the supervisor releases it, so nobody checks their own work.
    • Open what you sign. Release stays shut until the supervisor has opened the invoice as the customer sees it and the proof of delivery.
    • Blockers in plain words. An undecided exception or a receipt still out says why the invoice is not ready, under the portal's countdown.

The billing desk, its supervisor, collections and the controller

Four jobs touch a delivered load between the signed POD and the cash.

Billing specialists

Yesterday's deliveries: read, matched, built, steered, and how each exception is billed

  • Proofs sorted by what each one needs
  • A source behind every invoice line
  • Cash dates for each way to bill an exception
Billing supervisors

Releasing exception invoices, approving billing rules, lifting holds and changing settings

  • The invoice and POD opened before signing
  • Rules proposed from short-pays, waiting for approval
  • Holds that only they can lift
Collections specialists

Short-pays: traced to a cause, rebilled, disputed, or proposed for write-off or credit

  • Each deduction traced back to its cause
  • The rebill deadline on each short-pay
  • Write-offs that go to the controller to approve
Controllers

Cash tied up in unbilled loads, and the second signature on write-offs

  • Clean invoices out in each customer's batch
  • No write-off on one person's say
  • A trail of who signed, when and why
Around the desk

The merged PDF, the short-pay trail and the run behind each freight invoice

What the customer receives, what collections traces, and what the supervisor, the auditor and the driver see.

Merged invoice PDFOne file of four pages in the order the customer's guide asks: invoice, proof of delivery, bill of lading, detention record. Each line on the right links to its proof.
Rule learned from short-paysNine rules from the customer's billing guide, each citing its section. A tenth, proposed after 3 short-pays on exception notes, applies only when the billing supervisor approves it.
Short-pay traced to its causeSeven short-pays and rejections this week, $3,307.17 in all, from the cash postings. Each trail ends in a cause and a rebill window; write-offs and credits need two people.
Billing run by customerEvery customer's lane with its counts, amount, channel and cut-off. The four timing counts add up to 214 loads, and one customer shows as held by the morning's steer.
Audit trailThe steer, the fuel reprice, the requests and earlier send-backs and releases, each with who, when and why. The auditor exports a CSV or one load's evidence binder.
Driver app re-photoThe driver sees which delivery copy billing could not read and why: signature and count cut off at the edge. The new photo is linked to the original.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

The TMS, the document store, the portals and the diesel index it reads

Each value on the invoice links back to the record it came from.

Transportation management systemOrders, bills of lading and rate confirmations, read and never written
Document managementDelivery copies, receipts, billing guides and fuel tables
Driver app, email and faxProofs of delivery as they arrive, and re-photos linked to the original
Weekly diesel priceThe national on-highway average, read each Monday for the fuel tables
Customer portals and EDIWhere released invoices go, with status read back after upload
Accounts receivableRemittances and cash postings, where each short-pay is found

Liability on refused pallets and every write-off stay with named people

Agents read, build, ask and challenge. Each decision below belongs to a named role.

Whether freight is earned on refused goodsThat is set by the contract. The billing specialist decides how to bill it, and the agents give no legal advice.
Cargo loss and damageRefused or damaged freight goes to cargo claims under Carmack, and billing records the claim number on the invoice.
Releasing an exception invoiceOnly the billing supervisor, after opening the invoice and the proof of delivery, with a coded reason and their own explanation.
Write-offs and creditsCollections proposes; the controller approves a write-off and the billing supervisor a credit, and nobody approves their own.
A new billing ruleThe short-pay tracer proposes it; it applies to invoices only after the billing supervisor approves.
The agents

Eight agents between the delivery copy and the customer's portal

One reads, one matches, one prices, one challenges; the limits below are written into each job.

POD reader

Reads signature, printed name, date and times, stamp, count, exceptions and seal.

  • Never alters a POD; a re-photo is a new, linked image
  • Never guesses an unreadable mark
Paperwork matcher

Matches the POD to the bill of lading, the rate confirmation and the order.

  • Never writes to the TMS
Charge builder

Builds each line from its proof: linehaul, fuel on the customer's table, extras with receipts.

  • Never adds a charge without its proof
Billing card keeper

Applies the customer's references, layout, merged file, portal and cut-off.

  • Never applies a new rule before the billing supervisor approves it
Payables challenger

Reads each draft as the customer's payables team would and lists each reason to short-pay.

  • Never leaves a point unanswered
  • Never accuses anyone
Paperwork chaser

Sends structured requests to drivers, receivers and unloading services, and compares the replies.

  • Never lets free text change a load
  • Never sends anything legal
Portal submitter

Uploads released invoices to the portal, EDI or email and reads the status back.

  • Never submits an exception invoice the supervisor has not released
Short-pay tracer

Traces each short-pay to its cause and proposes a billing rule.

  • Never writes off or credits; two people do that

What carrier billing teams ask about freight billing

What is freight billing?

Freight billing is the carrier's work of turning a delivered load into an invoice the customer will pay. It means reading the proof of delivery, matching it to the bill of lading, pricing each charge from its proof and following the customer's rules. Here agents read and build, and people decide the exceptions.

Does it replace our TMS billing?

It reads orders, bills of lading and rate confirmations from the transportation management system without writing to it. Released invoices go out through the customer's portal, EDI or email, and the status is read back.

What happens to a POD nobody can read?

It is marked unreadable rather than guessed. The paperwork chaser asks the driver in the app to retake the page, and the new photo is read when it arrives and linked to the original.

What does the freight billing specialist still decide?

How to bill each exception, after opening it on the proof of delivery and comparing billing now with waiting. The decision needs a reason, and the billing supervisor releases it.

How do short-pays stop repeating?

The short-pay tracer follows each deduction back to its cause and, where the customer's card lacks a rule, proposes one. It applies to new invoices once the billing supervisor approves it.

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Bring a morning's
delivery copies.

We will read a batch of your own PODs with you and build the invoices to one customer's billing guide.

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