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Freight Spend Analytics

Freight spend analytics that answers why freight cost per unit moved with a bridge of causes, each traced to its shipments, invoices and contract lines.

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Watch one quarter's cost rise split into its causes ↓
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The problem

Every quarter the room decides it was diesel before anyone joins the data

Each quarter finance asks why outbound freight cost per unit moved. The answer needs carrier invoice lines, TMS shipments and tenders, ERP orders and the contracts' fuel tables joined into one view, and the analyst spends a week or two fixing joins before the first chart.

The joins break quietly. Balance-due rebills count twice, dealer orders count cases where finance counts eaches, fiscal and calendar quarters get mixed, and spot loads are compared with contract linehaul that leaves fuel out.

So the chart arrives without sources, diesel takes the blame, and the parts the company controls, such as late tenders, smaller orders and charges at a few DCs, never get an owner.

Built forLogistics leadersTransportation analystsFinance partnersProcurement managers

The Problem Today

Freight cost per unit rises, and the answer sits across invoices, tenders, orders and contracts that nobody has joined.

$6.29
a gallon of US diesel in mid-September 2026, a nominal record published
$2.40T
US business logistics costs in 2025, per an industry report published

Stitched by hand each quarter

  • Invoices
  • Tenders
  • Orders
  • Fuel tables
  • Fuel takes all the blameOr it sits unseen inside the spot premium
  • Rebills counted twiceBroken joins inflate the charges nobody can trace

The Solution

  1. Four systems joinedInvoice lines matched to shipments, tenders, orders and contract lines
  2. Causes sized in orderRates, fuel, spot, order mix, charges and lanes, each counted once
  3. Challenged as finance wouldA skeptic hunts double counts and fuel hidden in spot before anyone sees it
  4. Finance signs the pageThe VP submits; the finance partner opens the evidence and signs

Built-in controls

  • Nothing enters the review until finance signs
  • Carrier notes pass to procurement, never into the data
  • Definitions change only with finance's approval

What You Get

Leaders see which part of a cost rise is theirs to fix, and finance can follow each cent of it back to a shipment.

  • A rise split into causesEach block opens to its shipments, bills and contract lines
  • Double counts found earlyRebills and fuel inside spot restated before the review
  • Actions with ownersEach fix sized for next quarter and signed by its owner
Features

Freight spend analytics features, from finance's question to a signed bridge

The VP of logistics asks, the transportation analyst steers the agents, and the finance partner signs what goes into the business review.

demoThe shipper, its carriers and customers, and all the money shown are sample data.

  1. 01Cost bridge

    Freight cost per unit bridged cause by cause, in tenths of a cent

    • The question restated in finance's definitions. Unit, quarter and scope follow the definitions finance approved, so the bridge answers the question the CFO asked.
    • Causes sized in order at constant prices. Each block is measured at the prices before it, so no cause is counted twice.
    • The unexplained part left on the chart. A residual under the tolerance is shown, not buried, and the bridge ties to the ledger.
  2. 02Block detail

    Spot freight premium split into your late tenders and the market

    • Each block opened to its arithmetic. The computation, the shipments and the invoices behind a number sit on one page, so finance's follow-up is answered from the same screen.
    • Spot premium measured net of fuel. Spot all-in is compared with contract linehaul plus that month's fuel surcharge, so diesel is counted once.
    • Late tenders separated from market spot. The share the planners control gets its own number, its own evidence and an owner.
  3. 03Challenger

    Bridge challenged point by point as the CFO would ask it

    • The agents' own draft corrected. Fuel left inside the spot block and rebills counted with their originals are restated before the page reaches finance.
    • Points settled, split or left open. Records close what they can; a question only finance can rule on stays open with a name on it.
  4. 04Steer

    Freight cost per unit re-run per case on one typed instruction

    • Plain-language steers while the agents run. Per case, a week left out or two DCs split apart: the bridge re-runs and the instruction is logged.
    • The same causes in the unit you plan in. Sales and finance read the rise per case or per unit without building a second spreadsheet.
  5. 05The join

    Freight invoice lines joined to shipments, tenders, orders and contracts

    • Matched on pro and bill of lading numbers. Invoice lines, TMS loads, ERP orders and contract fuel tables meet in one quarter, with each match counted.
    • Unmatched lines kept with an owner. Lines with no shipment are listed and assigned, so nothing drops out of the bridge without a trace.
  6. 06What-if

    Next quarter's freight cost per unit played forward under each action

    • Each action priced from the cause it fixes. A tender lead-time rule, dealer consolidation and an appointment fix each carry their own share of the rise.
    • Inputs marked as assumptions. Movable share and capture rates show who must confirm them, so a projection is not read as a finding.
    • Carrier commitments folded in when they arrive. Until carriers answer in fields, the screen says the tender rule assumes they have the trucks.
  7. 07Open point

    A one-off storm week ruled by finance, with last year's precedent shown

    • Open points routed to the person who signs. A closed DC in a storm week is a presentation choice, and it waits for the finance partner.
    • Past rulings recalled at the decision. The agents show how a similar week was treated before, so the review reads the same way each quarter.
  8. 08Sign-off

    Explanation signed by finance only after opening what it rests on

    • Open what you check, then sign. The definitions, a rebill pair and a tender record must be opened before the sign button works.
    • Maker and checker named on the page. The VP of logistics submits and the finance partner signs or sends back, each with a reason in their own words.
  9. 09Review page

    Freight business review page tying the bridge to the ledger, cause by cause

    • One page for the review. The rise, the fuel share and the part from the company's own decisions sit above the waterfall and its table.
    • A source beside each cause. Amendments, fuel surcharge clauses and tender records are one click from the line they support.
    • Read only once signed. Reopening the page clears both signatures, so what the review shows is what finance signed.

Who owns freight spend analysis from question to business review

Four desks share one bridge; each owns a different part of the answer.

VPs of logistics

Answer for the freight budget and choose which actions go ahead

  • The part of a rise that is theirs to fix
  • Actions sized for next quarter
  • One page that finance has signed
Transportation analysts

Own the data joins, the saved questions and the exceptions

  • Joins done with every gap listed
  • Saved questions re-run each month
  • Steers that re-run the bridge on request
Finance business partners

Sign the explanation before it reaches the business review

  • Definitions applied as approved
  • Open points that wait for their ruling
  • A bridge that ties to the ledger
Transportation procurement managers

Own carrier agreements, tender rules and carrier requests

  • Late tenders shown lane by lane
  • Carrier commitments asked for in fields
  • The tender rule's share of the rise

Two of the agents' own errors were caught before finance saw the bridge

What the challenger found on the sample quarter, and what changed because of it.

Diesel hidden in the spot premium

The draft compared spot all-in rates with contract linehaul alone. Re-priced against linehaul plus the fuel surcharge, fuel rose and the spot block fell.

Rebills counted with their originals

Balance-due rebills sat beside the bills they corrected. Netting them restated the extra charges and left the unexplained part under tolerance.

Late tenders behind the spot rise

Most spot loads were tendered less than a day before pickup, after a same-day order release. The block split into our tenders and the market.

A storm week inside the quarter

A DC closed for three days added cost the review had to show or set aside. The choice went to finance, with the earlier ruling beside it.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Around the bridge

Carrier requests, definitions and saved questions behind the freight analytics

The screens the analyst and procurement work from between reviews.

Carrier requestsCarriers are asked only what the tender history cannot show: trucks a week at a two-day lead time, the start date and how long rates hold.
Extra charges at two retailer DCsDetention at one DC and lumper and redelivery at another, each with its invoices, so the appointment fix has a named place to start.
Standing definitionsUnit, quarter and scope as finance approved them, a proposed rule on rebills waiting for a second person, and the rulings the agents remember.
Saved questionsQuestions re-run each month by owner and status, with moves above three cents flagged for a look before anyone asks.
Audit trailSteers, picks, rulings, openings and signatures in time order, with the reason and the signer's role for each.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

The agents

Seven agents build the bridge, and finance alone signs it

Framing, joining, sizing, challenging, asking, projecting and drafting, each with a line it does not cross.

Question framer

Restates the question with finance's standing definitions of unit, period and scope.

  • Never changes a definition without approval
Data joiner

Joins invoice lines, shipments, tenders, orders and contracts, and reports each unmatched line.

  • Never drops a line silently
  • Never guesses a key
Driver splitter

Sizes each cause in order, each at constant prices for what came before it.

  • Never hides a residual
CFO's skeptic

Attacks the bridge as finance would: definitions, double counts, market against our own choices, one-off weeks.

  • Never publishes
  • Never rules on an open point
Carrier liaison

Sends carriers structured requests and reads their replies field by field.

  • Never treats free text as data
  • Never tells a carrier it is at fault
Action sizer

Sizes actions for next quarter with assumptions shown and editable.

  • Never presents an assumption as a finding
Explanation writer

Drafts the business review page with citations and the open points.

  • Never signs or sends
  • Never removes an open point

Questions logistics and finance leaders ask about freight spend analytics

What is freight spend analytics?

Freight spend analytics explains where freight money goes and why it moved. Here it answers a plain question, such as why freight cost per unit rose this quarter, with a bridge of causes that ties to the ledger and traces to shipments, invoices and contracts.

How does it tell fuel from everything else?

Fuel is sized from each contract's fuel table at the diesel index for both periods, and spot premiums are measured net of that month's fuel surcharge, so diesel sits in one block only.

Does it replace our freight audit provider?

No. It reads the audit file's invoice lines alongside the TMS, the ERP and the contract repository, and leaves auditing and payment where they are.

Who signs the explanation?

The VP of logistics submits it as maker, and the finance business partner signs as checker after opening the definitions and evidence listed. Nobody signs their own submission, and reopening clears both signatures.

Can the same question run again next month?

Yes. Saved questions re-run early each month with their owners, and any move above the threshold is flagged for a look.

What do carriers see?

Only a structured request in fixed fields, such as trucks committed at a given lead time. Their answers change the sizing through those fields, and any note they add goes to the procurement manager.

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Bring last quarter's question
and the files behind it.

We will build the bridge for one of your quarters with you, from invoice lines to a page finance can sign.

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