BY MARK B. SOLOMON, SENIOR EDITOR
FREIGHT PAYMENT
transportationreport
The Good,
the Bad,
and the Ugly
Two high-profile blow-ups paint a sad portrait
of audit and payment firms run amok.
EACH DAY, THOUSANDS OF AUDIT AND PAYMENT
firms process millions of transactions for billions of dollars
in freight bills. Most transactions go off without a hitch.
The carrier cuts an invoice, the freight charges are reviewed
for accuracy, legitimate discrepancies are addressed and
resolved, and the audit firm makes timely payment—
usually within 30 days of invoice presentation—on the shipper’s behalf.
But it’s a business built on trust. When that trust is broken
due to malfeasance rather than incompetence or oversight,
the consequences can be devastating. Lives and careers are
ruined. Companies operating for decades are destroyed
almost overnight. Long-standing relationships are irrepara-
bly ruptured. And an industry’s reputation is dinged.
