You audit a shipper’s freight invoices and carrier contracts, recover billing errors, and show the logistics or finance lead where rates and surcharges run above what they agreed.
Carrier invoices carry fuel surcharges, accessorials, reweighs and reclassifications that often fail to match the contract. Industry guides put recoverable errors at 2% to 8% of freight spend for shippers without a steady audit program, so a company spending $2M a year can lose $40,000 or more.
Accounts payable teams pay what the carrier bills because checking each line takes hours and requires rate knowledge. Contracts get signed at renewal under time pressure, and nobody goes back to compare actual charges against the negotiated terms.
You audit 3 months of invoices for one mode and show the client the errors you found.
You file claims with carriers and bill an agreed share of the credits that come back.
You compare the rate sheet and accessorial schedule against real shipments and propose terms for the next negotiation.
They answer for freight budget overruns and need evidence before they push back on a carrier.
Contingency pricing lets the client pay from money you bring back, so no upfront budget request is needed.
What buyers pay: 20% to 50% of recovered overcharges, or $150 to $350 per hour for contract reviews
Guides estimate recoveries of 3% to 8% of spend for LTL and 2% to 5% for parcel, the highest of the common modes.
There are 4 places to start, in the order most people find their first buyers.
Contact logistics managers, carrier reps and finance leads from past roles and offer a sample audit.
Partner with firms that see client freight data without auditing it, and share fees on referrals.
Attend CSCMP roundtables, NASSTRAC meetings or regional traffic clubs where shippers compare carrier terms.
Publish short examples of real accessorial or reweigh errors and show readers how to spot them on an invoice.
Every idea has weak spots. These are the ones to test before you spend money.
Check claim windows in each contract and start with the most recent invoices.
Lead with contract review and negotiation support, where your experience adds more than software.
Charge a small setup fee and invoice monthly as carrier credits post.
Ask for carrier EDI files or invoice exports in a set template before you quote.
Starts from this career
Start-up cost and time to first offer are our estimates. Prices come from the sources above and change over time, so check them before you set yours.
You bring your career history. You leave with 3 candidate directions of your own and the 4 tests that cut them down to one.
Questions about the toolkits, Plan A, mentorship, or whether any of this fits where you are right now. Send it here and a real person answers, usually within a day.
