The last few years have been a roller coaster ride for many industries. But, due to a confluence of factors, the logistics sector in particular has had an especially rough time of it. And according to the Wall Street Journal, it doesn’t look like that is going to change any time soon. While some companies are indeed expanding their fleets in expectation of rising demand, diesel prices, the bedrock of the current transportation industry, are expected to continue climbing. 

Aside from these external factors though, one critical reason that so many companies are struggling right now is sadly due to their own internal business systems. The transportation sector is a trillion-dollar industry, and moving that much money between so many separate entities is already difficult enough, without global pandemics and geo-political instability. It doesn’t help that so many shippers are also still using outdated and inefficient spend management systems that either rely on manual processes, or fail to provide complete end to end supply chain visibility, or both. 

Currently, most shippers use one of the following three options to manage their transportation spend: 

Freight Audit Providers: While these companies usually do a decent job of auditing invoices, detecting errors and securing refunds, often times they are completely lacking in the financial support department. They generally fail to provide an approval engine for invoices, allow GL Coding/Cost Allocation, provide aging and accrual reports, create invoice payments, and integrate with ERP’s. 

Spend Management Systems: On the flip side, most spend management systems will provide the financial support mentioned above, but then fail to validate those payments through invoice auditing and exception management. This works out well for carriers, because it means they get paid on time, but these overcharges can dramatically hurt a shipper’s bottom line. 

Freight Payment Providers: These are probably the least effective option. They do provide consolidated payment options, but fail to provide comprehensive financial reporting or ensure accurate charges based on established contracts. 

Companies that still rely on these outdated systems are not only losing profits and risking their carrier relationships through late payments, but they are also utterly unprepared to deal with the rapidly changing logistics landscape of the next few years. 

While each of the individual systems mentioned above are flawed on their own, combining them together and utilizing the strengths and capabilities of each one would provide users with the most powerful and sophisticated Transportation Spend Management System on the market, capable of handling anything the logistics landscape could throw at it.

So, that’s exactly what we did. 

Our proprietary advanced logistics platform, FreightOptics, combines end-to-end supply chain visibility across all modes with real-time financial reporting, making it the most comprehensive and customizable Transportation Spend Management System available. Our clients can track and approve payments, all from within the system itself, while behind the scenes our automated audit and GL code functions ensure the correct department is billed accurately each time. Our system also maximizes aging days, while at the same time making sure carriers get paid, securing service levels as well as profits. 

There are a lot of options in the logistics industry these days, and each potential partner promises they have the right solution for your company. But why choose? With FreightOptics, you can have it all, right now, while also making sure your company is protected against whatever’s coming next. 

Reach out to us now to take control of your transportation spend, and we’ll make sure your shipping needs are moving in the right direction.