In today’s shipping industry, being data-savvy is crucial. It’s not enough to get simple data access and collect it. Most importantly, shippers must also harness this data to gain insights, refine their processes and enhance services. Crucial to this is freight bill data, which does more than settle carrier payments—it’s a gold mine in insights for optimizing shipping operations. However, accessing high-quality freight bill data can be tough. Surprisingly, it is not always the IT department that is slowing down these data Interoperability efforts. Many times, freight bill data access is hampered by external partners.

With this growing trend of using carrier billing data for analysis and insights, shippers face two main hurdles. First, getting hold of this data can be exasperating. Second when they do, its poor quality hampers effective auditing and analytics. In this article, I’ll provide three tips that will make it easier for you to access your electronic freight bills. Plus, I’ll explain why it’s vital to have such data access. Lastly, I’ll point you towards additional resources to help you discern good freight bill data from the bad.

1. Shippers Need Easy Access To Quality Freight Bill Data From Their Supply Chain Partners.

Besides paying freight bills, shippers need easy access to quality freight bill data to gain operational insights. This is because this financial data is full of insights that reflect the inter workings of a shipper’s operations. Hence, it is a key data source for making improvements. Indeed, freight bill data is not just for an auditor to review and discard. In this age of business intelligence (BI), freight bill data is a gold mine for shippers to use for post-diagnostics of their shipping operations. Specifically, this data is key for improving both shipping operations and the customer’s delivery experience.

Positively, with accurate freight bill data, shippers can better understand their shipping costs, monitor carrier performance, and optimize their logistics processes. For more on the importance of simple, quality electronic freight bill data, see my article, Freight Bill Processing: The Preposterous Challenge And The Insidious Ways It Can Make Your Shipping Operations Go Blind.

Freight Bill Processing: The Preposterous Challenge And The Insidious Ways It Can Make Your Shipping Operations Go Blind

2. Simple Access To Quality Electronic Freight Bills: What Does It Entail?

Let’s Breakthrough The Data Interoperability Nightmare: It Is The Best Way To Unlock Supply Chain Innovation

Without a doubt, simple access to data is the essence of achieving data interoperability within supply chains. So, with electronic freight bills, there needs to be a way to exchange the invoice data between the carrier, shipper, and payor. Also, the shipper / payor needs the analytical capability to gain insights from the data the carriers provided. To list, below are the key requirements of what a shipper or payor should expect from a carrier to gain easy access to quality electronic freight bills.

What Is Needed to Access Quality Digital Freight Bills

• Carrier Have and Makes Available Quality, Detailed Invoice Data. Ideally, this freight bill data should have charge-level detail that provides enough shipping characteristics to justify each individual charge.
• Carrier or 3rd Party Provider Offers a Data Interface. Along with this easy accessible digital interface, the carrier should provide documentation on how to access the data (ex. API, file download), a description of the data format, and examples of data content.
• The Shipper / Payor Has Technical Capability To Access and Use Data. Ideally, shippers need to have the technical expertise. This includes both the ability to establish an automatic data interface and to import the invoice data into their system.

In summary, simple data access means that the invoice data is up-to-date, accurate, and complete. This is key to eliminate the need for shippers to chase after missing or incorrect information. Additionally, the faster a shipper can access and analyze freight bill data, the more effectively they can achieve actionable insights. As a result of this rich financial data, shippers / payors can both pay their freight bills and use the data insights to optimize their supply chain operations. For more detailed discussion on the importance of achieving data interoperability in supply chains, see my article, Let’s Breakthrough The Data Interoperability Nightmare: It Is The Best Way To Unlock Supply Chain Innovation.

3. Tips For Shippers To Stop The Pain And Streamline Data Access.

The Best Ways To Access Data – Tech Solutions To Unlock Your Data Silos

As discussed previously, shippers, payors, 3rd party providers, and carriers need the technical capability to achieve data interoperability. This is the only way shippers can fully leverage electronic freight bills. Surprisingly, it takes more than technology and the IT department to assure a shipper can get easy access to quality freight bill data.  

So besides technology, there are quite a few things a shipper needs to do to get easy access to quality invoice data. The key is to establish an excellent business relationship with great supply chain partners. When I say supply chain partners, this can include the transportation carrier, a 3rd party logistics (3PL) provider, or an auditor. Indeed, in many supply chain operations there are several 3rd party partners that work with the raw freight bill data from the carrier. Below are 3 tips that will go a long way toward helping a shipper work with the right supply chain partners to get easy access to quality freight bill data.

a. First, Favor Carriers That Provide Uncomplicated, High-Quality Invoice Data.

High-quality invoice data enhances both post-diagnostic shipment analytics and reduces disputes by ensuring all parties have access to accurate, up-to-date information. When feasible, prefer carriers that provide straightforward billing practices with minimal adjustments, accessorial charges, and fees. Also, the shipper can help by keeping freight bill terms simple.  For more ideas on streamlining freight payment terms, see my article, Freight Payment Terms: A Painful Money Game, Its Purpose, Is There A Better Way?

Freight Payment Terms: A Painful Money Game, Its Purpose, Is There A Better Way?

b. Favor Partners That Have Streamlined Authorization Policies To Access Billing Data.

Shippers should prioritize carriers and partners that offer easily accessible, high-quality data. Favor carriers, 3rd party logistics (3PL) providers, auditing firms, and shipment visibility companies that can provide complete, accurate, and timely data. Having worked with thousands of shippers, I’ve observed countless times where shippers have had unnecessary difficulties accessing their own raw invoice data. Regrettably, obtaining detailed invoice data is often near-impossible for some shippers. 

Therefore, be cautious of transportation carriers, 3PLs, and 3rd party firms with restrictive policies for shippers accessing raw, detailed invoice data. Now, not all carriers and shipping partners restrict a shipper’s access to their freight bill data. For example, ShipMatrix, a 3rd party shipper analytics company offers shippers easy access to both raw and normalized invoice and shipment data. Shippers remember, you own your freight bill data. So, if you need it, ask for it and expect to get it.

c. Favor Carriers That Have Frictionless Technology Access To Invoice Data.

Additionally, choose carriers with a straightforward technology approval process that allows shippers to access detailed invoice data. Specifically, opt for carriers that offer easy access to Application Programming Interfaces (API), EDI, or simple file download processes. Be cautious of financial data not well-suited for automation purposes or difficult to import into your databases.

For instance, MS Excel or XML file formatted invoices are not conducive to importing into a database. If that is the only type of file format a carrier can provide, it is next to impossible for a shipper or third party provider to automate invoice processes. This is because in many cases the data files will not import into a database at all. If the data files do import, there will be frequent import errors or data will become corrupted during import. For more ideas on data integration, see my article, Want To Integrate Data For Better Business Visibility? Here’s How To Do It.

Want To Integrate Data For Better Business Visibility? Here’s How To Do It

Lastly, do you need help with an innovative solution to make your supply chain systems work together? I’m Randy McClure, and I’ve spent many years solving data interoperability and visibility problems. As a supply chain tech advisor, I’ve implemented hundreds of successful projects across all transportation modes, working with the data of thousands of shippers, carriers, and 3rd party logistics (3PL) providers. I specialize in proof-of-concept and pilot projects for emerging technologies. If you’re ready to modernize your data infrastructure or if you are a solution provider, let’s talk. To reach me, click here to access my contact form or you can find me on LinkedIn.

For more articles from Supply Chain Tech Insights, see topics of finance, shipping, data, and information technology.