Are you feeling the squeeze when you look at your company’s shipping bills? It’s an old story. Your business is growing, orders are flying out the door, and that’s fantastic! But with that growth comes a big, often scary-looking line item: freight costs. Maybe you feel a knot in your stomach every time a new invoice arrives. It’s hard to tell if you’re getting a fair shake or if your hard-earned profits are just vanishing into a logistics black hole. This post is for you. We’ll look at simple, clear signs that suggest your business is likely overspending on freight. Getting a handle on your freight spend analysis is crucial for keeping your financial health strong. Let’s find out where the money goes and how to bring those costs back to earth.
You Only See Shipping Costs Once a Year
Many companies make a big mistake. They treat freight like an annoying utility bill. They pay it without much thought, often only doing a full review when it’s time to negotiate new annual contracts or when the finance department screams. This “out of sight, out of mind” approach is very costly.
If your process means you barely glance at the charges until the end of the year, that’s a huge red flag. Shipping costs change all the time. Fuel prices shift. Carriers add new surcharges. You need to catch these things fast. Waiting twelve months means you’ve given up a year’s worth of potential savings. It means you’re paying for mistakes, unnecessary fees, or simply bad rates for a long time. You can’t fix what you don’t see. A quick look each week, not once a year, saves real money. It’s about being proactive. You must watch the little stuff before it becomes a massive bill.
No Idea What a Fair Price Looks Like
Imagine walking into a store and just letting the clerk name any price for an item. You wouldn’t do it! Yet, many businesses do exactly that with their shipping. They use one or two main carriers and accept the quoted rate. They think, “That’s just the cost of shipping this item.”
If your team can’t quickly and confidently say if a quote is good, bad, or average, that’s a sign of serious overspending. You need market intelligence. You should know what your competitors pay, what other similar companies pay, and what the best rate should be for that lane and service level.
Many carriers offer different rates based on volume, product type, and even the time of year. A business that doesn’t have a transportation spend analytics tool or a solid process for rate benchmarking is flying blind. Without knowing the market rate, you have no leverage. You can’t negotiate hard if you don’t know your value as a customer. Knowing the data gives you power. It stops you from paying the “sticker price” every single time. Get smart on rates.
Expedited Shipping Is the Norm, Not the Exception
Look at your freight invoices from the last quarter. How much was labeled “Next Day Air,” “Priority,” or “Expedited”? A few rush shipments are okay. Sometimes a customer is desperate, or a line goes down. That’s business. But if 10% or more of your volume is moving faster than standard ground or LTL, you’re paying a huge premium that you shouldn’t be.
Expedited shipping is wildly expensive. It’s often three or four times the cost of a standard service. Why are you rushing? Often, it points to deeper problems in the supply chain or operations. Maybe inventory planning is poor, leading to stock-outs that must be fixed with a rush order. Maybe your order processing is slow, leaving no time for standard shipping. Maybe sales teams are promising delivery dates that aren’t realistic.
Fixing this isn’t just about yelling at the shipping clerk. It’s about looking upstream. Improve your inventory management. Tighten up the time it takes to pick and pack an order. If you can push a shipment out a day earlier, you might save thousands on that single load. Turn those costly rush jobs back into affordable standard shipments.
Accepting Invoices Without Checking Every Detail
Every carrier invoice has mistakes. It’s a fact of life. They happen because of human error, technical glitches, or simple miscommunications. These mistakes might be small, maybe a few dollars here or there for a wrong accessorial fee. But those small errors add up to thousands of dollars over a year.
Many companies simply pay the bill because they lack the staff or the time to do a proper, line-by-line audit. It feels tedious, so they skip it. If you are not checking every invoice for incorrect charges, duplicate billings, or missed discounts, you are leaving money on the table.
This goes beyond just checking the rate. Are they charging you for a lift gate when you have a dock? Are they billing you for a reweigh that was wrong? Did a package arrive late, making it eligible for a service guarantee refund? Smart companies perform a consistent, detailed audit of every single charge. Skipping this step is like giving your carriers a bonus straight out of your pocket. Getting a handle on transportation spend management is key to stopping these small leaks from sinking the ship.
The Final Mile to Savings
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by freight costs. But every problem we talked about has a clear solution. The key is moving from a reactive mindset to a proactive one. Stop just paying the bills. Start managing the costs. Stop guessing what you should pay. Start knowing what you should pay. Better freight management doesn’t just save money; it makes your business more competitive and stronger.
If this all sounds like a lot, you don’t have to tackle it alone. Sometimes, bringing in experts makes the most sense. JEC Consulting Services helps businesses like yours turn shipping from a cost center into a profit advantage. They analyze a company’s entire supply chain, identifying hidden fees, securing better carrier rates, and setting up systems for ongoing cost control. Many companies find that their expertise pays for itself quickly through massive savings. JEC Consulting Services provides the tools and knowledge to ensure a business stops overpaying and starts shipping smarter.
