There are shipping audit services that help reduce shipping costs by verifying whether your delivery is residential or commercial. 91 percent of the 140 million Postal Service delivery points fall into the residential category. Most shipping companies charge a higher rate for delivery to a residence. Shipping audit services, like those offered by Lojistic, are able to help streamline shipping operations and implement systems to validate costly residential surcharges.
Lojistic, for example, conducts a 42-point shipping audit of every shipment listed on your carrier invoice. Each transportation audit point can highlight carrier billing errors and a possible source of carrier refunds. The most common carrier billing errors include erroneous address correction charges, erroneous residential delivery charges, erroneous dimensional weight charges, duplicate charges, and erroneous delivery area surcharges. Virtually every invoice will contain a variety of billing mistakes and service failures. Monitoring each package and every charge that appears on your carrier invoices can save your company considerable expense.
If you are verifying shipping quotes, you should always ask for the actual weight and dimensions rather than relying on "spec sheet" weights and sizes supplied by the manufacturer. Shipping audit services will ensure your invoice accurately reflects the correct charges. Audits conducted by Lojistic will detect any discrepancies in surcharges based on address or specification errors.
Another area falling under the scrutiny of a shipping audit provided by such firms as Lojistic is the residential surcharge. UPS and FedEx charge an extra $2.45 - $2.75 per package for residential deliveries. This classification is usually made by your local UPS or FedEx driver when the deliveries are made. A comprehensive shipping audit will reveal invalid classifications in this area.