Free resource
A load-by-load checklist for auditing carrier invoices before payment. Nineteen core checks that apply to every invoice, plus a set built for your freight: LTL, reefer and cold chain, heavy freight, tanker and bulk, cross-border, or drayage and intermodal. Seven printable versions and an Excel findings log that totals what you recover.
19 checks
Every carrier invoice, any mode. The 12 core checks plus seven fraud, netting and recovery checks.
Download PDF26 checks
Class and weight verification, reweigh and inspection certificates, accessorials that only exist in LTL.
Download PDF26 checks
Temperature records, fuel for reefer units, and the claims exposure that comes with a broken cold chain.
Download PDF26 checks
Permits, escorts, route surveys, and equipment charges that only apply above legal weight.
Download PDF26 checks
Tank wash receipts, demurrage on the trailer, product-specific handling and dedicated equipment minimums.
Download PDF27 checks
Customs holds, who carries the detention, GST and HST treatment, and currency on the invoice.
Download PDF29 checks
Chassis rental against actual dates, per diem, pre-pull authorization, and terminal congestion charges.
Download PDFA checklist tells you what to look for. The findings log tells you what it is worth and which carriers to escalate. One row per exception: load, carrier, which check failed, invoiced amount, correct amount, and whether it is rebillable to the shipper. It totals recovery by month and by check, so you learn which of the 19 checks actually pays on your freight.
It also applies one rule automatically: two or more unrecovered exceptions from the same carrier triggers a full audit of that carrier. That is the difference between catching errors and fixing the source of them.
Findings log (Excel)No email required. Print the checklist for the desk, keep the log in the shared drive.
Run these in order. The early checks are the fastest and catch the most money, so a partial audit done in sequence still beats a thorough audit done at random.
These are the checks that catch what a rate-versus-invoice comparison cannot: identity fraud, money already advanced, balances owed back to you, and charges you should be rebilling rather than absorbing.
A checklist audits one invoice at a time. Past roughly 1,000 loads a month, invoices start getting approved under deadline pressure, and the 1-3% overpayment the checklist exists to catch slips through. That is the point where a dedicated audit desk pays for itself. ClearLane runs these checks on every load before payment as a managed carrier invoice audit service, or request a demo to see the process. Not sure the money is real? Estimate your exposure with the AP overpayment calculator.
Every version starts with the same 19 core checks. These are the additional checks that only apply to that kind of freight, and they are where the mode-specific money hides.
LTL
Reefer and cold chain
Heavy freight and oversize
Tanker and bulk
Cross-border
Drayage and intermodal
White-glove and final mile
Construction and heavy equipment
Aircraft parts and AOG
Placarded loads and hazardous materials
Food-grade and FSMA-regulated loads
ClearLane runs every one of these checks on every load before payment, as a managed service with a 99 percent accuracy target. Exceptions are logged, short-pays are documented, and rebillable accessorials go back to the shipper instead of quietly absorbing into your margin.
The core checks: match the invoice to the rate confirmation, verify the fuel surcharge math, confirm every accessorial has documentation (detention with in and out times, lumper receipts, TONU per the rate con), check for duplicates, and confirm remit-to details against the carrier packet. Seven of the 19 also cover fraud, netting and recovery: carrier identity, advances deducted, netting of prior claims and short-pays, the billing window, remit-to verification, approval authority, and flagging rebillable accessorials. The versions above add mode-specific items for LTL, reefer and cold chain, heavy freight, tanker and bulk, cross-border, and drayage and intermodal.
Volume decides. At a few hundred loads a month, a disciplined AP clerk can run every check. Past 1,000 loads a month, deadline pressure wins and errors get approved. That is when a dedicated audit desk, in-house or managed, starts paying for itself.
Start with the universal version. It carries the 19 checks that apply to every carrier invoice regardless of mode. If most of your freight is one type, download that version instead: it contains the same 19 checks plus the ones that only apply to that freight. LTL adds class and weight verification, reefer adds temperature records, heavy freight adds permits and escorts, tanker adds wash and demurrage, cross-border adds customs and tax treatment, and drayage adds chassis, per diem and pre-pull.
Two or more unrecovered exceptions from the same carrier. One exception is an error. A pattern is a billing practice, and it will keep costing you until someone looks at every invoice that carrier has sent. The findings log applies this rule automatically as you record exceptions.
Log what you find. The findings log totals recovery by month and by check, so after a quarter you know which of the 19 checks actually pays on your freight and which are formalities. That is also the number you need if you ever want to justify the time the audit takes.
Seven of the 19 checks are built for it. The MC or DOT on the invoice gets matched to the carrier on the rate confirmation. Remit-to changes get verified by outbound call to a known number, never by replying to the request. Accessorials get checked for approval authority, and open claims and prior short-pays get netted. Identity and remit-to fraud are the two that cost the most, because the freight moved and the money went to the wrong party.
