The Freight Doctor

Do you review your Freight Bill and compare it to your original Freight Quote?

If not, why aren’t you? Besides the fact that it’s just a good habit, there are a lot of things you can learn from reviewing your freight bills but more importantly, you may start to catch discrepencies that you should bring up with the trucking company or freight broker that you’re dealing with.

If you discover discrepancies between the freight quote and the actual freight bill, You always want to find out what happened. Discrepancies happen for any number of reasons but the main reason to bring it up is that you can learn more about how things work and you send a message to the trucking company that you’re watching everything.

 What are some of the reasons that your freight bill varies from your original freight quote?

·        Liftgate – Did the trucking company add on a liftgate after the fact? If the load required a residential pick up or delivery, sorry buddy, there’s no way around it unless somebody in the neighborhood has a forklift. However, if this was a business to business delivery and there were loading docks or terminal pickup and/or delivery, there should have been no need for the liftgate.

·        Fuel Surcharge – With soaring gas prices the fuel surcharge goes up every week. If you sit on a quote, be prepared to see pricing go up the longer you wait to book the load.

·        Re-Weigh – “Uh, it’s bigger than a bread box” You guessed at the dimensions and the weight and the trucking company had to re weigh the item. I go over this on my previous post about Re Weighs.  

·        Misclassification or reclassification – This is the big one. You want to know your FAK Classification for the item you’re shipping out. There are 3PL (Third Party Logistics) Companies that will list the FAK on the freight quote. It’s always a handy piece of information to have, because sometimes trucking companies will re classify or misclassify the item(s) you’re shipping.

      Let’s use a common item for an example here. Take for instance a Wooden Chest in the NMFC (National Motor Freight Classification) book.

            The NMFC lists a Wooden Chest as item #80900

1. Sub 1  SU (set up) is listed as FAK Class 125
2. Sub 2  KD (knocked down) is listed as FAK Class 85

      Even though it’s the same item, the means by which it’s shipped will effect the class      and price of the bill. Be sure to know the exact dimensions and weight and how it was packaged because the trucking company may have not accurately Classified it. It could be either honest human error or someone decided to take liberties with reclassifying your shipment. That’s why it’s always good to work with a 3PL, Freight Broker or freight carrier that lists the FAK on the freight quote so you can compare it to the freight bill. Usually, as a customer, the freight bill is the only place you’ll be able to catch if a re-class has taken place.

So what happens now? Well the first thing you want to do is ask that your bill be explained and if the answer is not satisfactory, then request that the freight bill be recalculated and get your rep to help make those corrections on your behalf with the trucking company or freiht carrier. What separates the good Third Party Logistics companies and the bad ones are that the good 3PL companies are the ones that will help you with making these adjustments.

What does FAK stand for? FAK stands for Freight All Kinds. FAKs are determined by the NMFC or National Motor Freight Classification, which publishes a book annually, that lists every type of commodity that can be shipped. FAK or Freight All Kinds are arrived at in part by the weight, density, volume and material of the item.

Each commodity falls into a different class of FAK. The smaller and more dense the commodity is, the lower the FAK. The bigger and more airy it is, the higher the FAK is. For instance, smaller solid heavy metal plates and parts are rated at FAK Class 50 being that they’re small, dense and very heavy. Soft items such as pillows on the other hand may fall into FAK Class 300 or 400 because they’re big, and take up a lot of space in the truck and are light weight. That said, the best rates will always be for heavier items that take up less space on the truck.

Learn what the actual FAK of your commodities are. Watch out for any company that rates your FAK higher than it actually is. If anything, try to get a lower FAK than its actual class. Visit the NMFC and purchase the NMFC book HERE

In an industry where fuel surcharges are skyrocketing, the freight companies that are trying to offset the price increases by lowering your FAKs below their actual class for you are the companies you want to be doing business with. Your actual class and FAK will be based upon your volume of freight.

Here is a listing of all the FAK Classifications:
· 50
· 55
· 60
· 65
· 70
· 77.5
· 85
· 92.5
· 100
· 110
· 125
· 150
· 175
· 200
· 250
· 300
· 400
· 500

Looking for The Best Freight Quotes Online?
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Over the past few weeks I watched the Fuel Surcharge rapidly creep up to an alarming 37.90% with some freight carriers! With the price of oil skyrocketing, it’s only to be expected that the freight carriers will pass along their increasing costs to you. The good thing is, that even with all the fuel surcharge price increases, you’ll still be able to find a 3PL that will be able to secure incredibly low rates. All you have to do is call around. Don’t settle on one company. No matter what discounts they give you, it’s the bottom line price that counts!