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Freight agent

Carrier invoice audit

Every carrier bill checked against the rate con, the BOL and the POD, accessorials included. Bills that agree are cleared to pay, and charges nobody approved wait for a person.

  • $12,500 fixed
  • Live in 3 to 6 weeks
  • Yours to keep
Let’s build your agent How it works
The review screen for Carrier invoice audit: four items, three done, and one ($225 detention) waiting for the settlement lead, who is asked: Approve $225 detention on load 51873? Nobody approved it on the load.
How it works

Detention, lumper and layover, each checked against the rate con.

Here’s a typical run, step by step: what automation handles, what the agent does, and the calls that stay with your team.

The workflow for Carrier invoice audit, in 5 steps. It starts with “A carrier bill comes in” and ends with “Cleared for the pay run”. Each step lists what automation, the agent and your team do there.
Carrier invoice auditA typical run
Starts withA carrier bill comes inTidewater Carriers bills load 51873 at $3,125, by email to AP or through your carrier portal.
The agent: Reads the load number, the linehaul, the fuel and each accessorial, however this carrier lays out its bill.
Automation: Attaches the bill to load 51873 in the TMS and marks it as waiting for audit.
~45h/mo

Step 1 of 5Read the bill

  • The agent

    Reads the load number, the linehaul, the fuel and each accessorial, however this carrier lays out its bill.

    One carrier writes “DET”, another “wait time”, a third tucks it into a line called “misc”.

  • Automation

    Attaches the bill to load 51873 in the TMS and marks it as waiting for audit.

    The load number on the bill ties it to exactly one load.

Reads
  • AP inbox
  • Carrier portal
Writes
  • TMS

~45 hours a month back

Automation: Pulls the agreed rate con, the signed BOL and the POD for load 51873 so they sit beside the bill.
~20h/mo

Step 2 of 5Pull the load file

  • Automation

    Pulls the agreed rate con, the signed BOL and the POD for load 51873 so they sit beside the bill.

    All three documents hang off load 51873 in the TMS.

Reads
  • TMS
Writes
  • TMS

~20 hours a month back

The agent: Linehaul is $2,650 as agreed and fuel follows your schedule. The $225 detention has no approval anywhere on the load.
~60h/mo

Step 3 of 5Check each charge

  • The agent

    Linehaul is $2,650 as agreed and fuel follows your schedule. The $225 detention has no approval anywhere on the load.

    Detention is only fair if the driver waited past free time, and that lives in timestamps, notes and the POD.

Reads
  • TMS
  • Fuel schedule
Writes
  • TMS

~60 hours a month back

Where teams differFree time before detention starts runs from one hour to four, depending on the shipper and the lane.

Automation: Keeps load 51873 out of the pay run and puts the bill, the rate con and the stop times on one screen.
IfYour team: Accepts the detention if the driver really waited, or decides to short-pay it and take it up with the carrier.
~15h/mo

Step 4 of 5Rule on the detention

  • Automation

    Keeps load 51873 out of the pay run and puts the bill, the rate con and the stop times on one screen.

    Either an approval for the $225 is on the load or it isn’t.

  • Your teamIf a charge has no approval

    Accepts the detention if the driver really waited, or decides to short-pay it and take it up with the carrier.

    Paying a charge nobody agreed to is new spending, and the carrier relationship is on the line either way.

Reads
  • TMS
Writes
  • TMS

~15 hours a month back

Where teams differWho signs off on an accessorial varies: the settlement lead, the carrier manager, or the rep who booked the load.

The agent: If the lead says no, writes the note to Tidewater with the rate con, the stop times and the math, for your team to send.
Automation: Marks the bill cleared at the agreed amount in the TMS and accounting, with the load file attached.
~20h/mo

Step 5 of 5Clear or short‑pay

  • The agent

    If the lead says no, writes the note to Tidewater with the rate con, the stop times and the math, for your team to send.

    A short-pay note has to explain itself to a carrier who will push back. That takes a clear, polite letter.

  • Automation

    Marks the bill cleared at the agreed amount in the TMS and accounting, with the load file attached.

    The settlement lead has set the amount. Clearing the bill at that figure is data entry.

Reads
  • TMS
Writes
  • TMS
  • Accounting

~20 hours a month back

Ends withCleared for the pay runThe bill sits in the TMS cleared to pay, with the rate con, BOL and POD attached to the load.
Total~160h/mo

What changes

Detention, lumper and layover get checked against the rate con on every bill, so your settlement team only argues the charges nobody agreed to.

  • 4steps automated
  • 3steps for the agent
  • 1call kept with your team

Pick any step to see what happens there and why it sits in that lane.

What it could be worth

~160 hours a month back

$80,600 a year in time

For a brokerage settling about 2,500 carrier bills a month, at $42 an hour. We work out yours from your own volumes before you sign.

Let’s build your agent
What we customize with you

One proven agent, plugged into how you work.

Every team does this job a little differently, so we set these five with the people who do it today. We’ve done this in dozens of businesses, so we know where teams usually differ and ask about those first.

The agent

Same for every client
  • Follows the same proven steps
  • A person on every exception
  • Every decision logged
  • Tested on your past work first
  • Never approves a charge nobody agreed to

  1. Your systems

    Where the work comes in, and where the result goes.

    For this agentCarrier bills from your AP inbox or carrier portal, approvals into your TMS and accounting.

  2. Your rules

    The limits and exceptions it works to.

    For this agentYour fuel schedule, the free time before detention starts, and the accessorials that need approval.

  3. Your team

    Who signs off, and who covers when they’re away.

    For this agentThe settlement lead for unapproved charges, the carrier manager for disputes.

  4. Your channels

    Where your team hears from it.

    For this agentSlack for exceptions, email to carriers for missing paperwork.

  5. Your output

    What it hands back, in the format you already use.

    For this agentA cleared bill with the load file attached, or a short-pay note for your team to send.

Setting up new carriers is our Vendor onboarding agent. Releasing a payment and settling a dispute with a carrier stay with your team.

What you get

The agent, and everything that keeps it working.

  • The agentRunning on your systems, under your rules.
  • The review screenWhere the exceptions land for your carrier settlement team and the AP lead.
  • Your rulebookYour limits, exceptions and who signs off, in one place, often for the first time.
  • A test reportYour past carrier bills, run through it and checked against the number.
  • The runbookHow it works, what to check, and what to do if it stops.
  • 30 days of tuningAfter it goes live, through a full month of your real carrier bills.
The number we agree

Hours a week your team spends auditing carrier bills. We measure it before we start, and again at day 30.

How we get there

Live in 3 to 6 weeks. About seven hours of your time.

We do the building. Your side: access, three months of paid carrier bills with their rate cons, and a short weekly check-in.

  1. Before kickoff

    We send the access checklist.

    You, 2 hours. Access, an owner, and three months of paid carrier bills with their rate cons.

  2. Weeks 1 to 2

    We connect your systems and set it up.

    You, 1 hour. Walk us through your rules.

  3. Weeks 2 to 4

    We test it on your past carrier bills.

    You, 1 hour. Review what it flagged.

  4. Weeks 3 to 6

    It runs beside your team, then goes live.

    You, 1¼ hours. Work from the review screen.

Then 30 days of tuning, with a short check-in each week, about two hours of yours. At day 30 we show you the number and hand everything over.

After it’s live

It keeps running whether or not we stay.

  • It runs in your accounts

    Your cloud, your systems, and an AI account in your name, billed by the provider at their rates.

  • Changes in the first 30 days are included

    A new rule, a changed limit, someone new signing off. That’s what tuning is for.

  • After that, your call

    Your team edits the rulebook, the care plan covers it, or a bigger change is quoted first.

Questions

About this agent.

Can it check detention against the actual wait?
Yes, if your TMS or tracking records arrival and departure times. It works out the wait against your free time and flags any bill that doesn’t match.
Does it short-pay carriers?
No. It drafts the note and the math. Whether to short-pay, and telling the carrier, stays with your team.
Our process isn’t quite like this. Will it still work?
That’s the usual case. The job looks the same in most businesses, but the details never do. We map how your team does it today, then set the rules, systems and approvals to match. That’s what most of the 3 to 6 weeks are for.
How do we agree the number?
Together, before any work starts. For this agent it’s the hours a week your team spends auditing carrier bills. We measure it before we start, and again at day 30.
What does it cost to run once it’s live?
Hosting and AI, paid straight to the providers, not through us. It usually runs 5x to 25x cheaper than doing the same work by hand, and we work out your figure from your real volumes before you sign.

Want carrier bills audited before anyone pays them?

Tell us how your team handles carrier bills today. We’ll show you this agent on examples like yours, and whether it fits the fixed price.

Let’s build your agentBack to Logistics
New to Switchboard Agents? How it works, what’s included, and what it costs.
  • 3 to 6 weeksto live, then 30 days of tuning
  • $12,500fixed, per agent
  • Yours to keepno license fees
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Switchboard Agents$12,500 fixed · live in 3 to 6 weeks How it works Let’s build your agent