· Freight audit · 2 min read
What freight overbilling actually costs
Everybody in freight audit quotes a percentage. Here is where the figures come from, who produced them, and what each one is worth to you.
Search “freight audit” and you will be told you are overpaying by some amount. The figures are real enough to plan with. This is the list we use, who produced each one, and how far to lean on it.
The numbers in circulation
| Figure | What it measures | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 7% | of freight spend billed in error | Industry estimate | Commonly cited, with no single primary source |
| 1 in 5 | invoices carrying a rate error or overcharge | Vendor estimate | Loop; Business Solutions Group |
| $2.58 trillion | US business logistics cost in 2024, 8.8% of GDP, transportation the largest component | Published research | CSCMP and Kearney, 36th Annual State of Logistics Report |
| ~100 of 1,500 | weekly LTL bills failing the audit tolerance at one freight forwarder, by its own estimate | Discovery interview | An LTL freight forwarder, June 2026 |
How to read them
The 3 to 7% range is repeated across the freight audit industry, and we could not trace it to a single primary source. The 1 in 5 figure comes from companies that sell freight audit. Both are the best numbers publicly available, and both come from interested parties. Treat them as the shape of the problem rather than a measurement of your problem.
The State of Logistics figure is different. It is annual published research with a stated method, and it sizes the spend rather than the error rate. It tells you how large the pool is, not how much of yours is leaking.
The forwarder datapoint is one operator’s weekly estimate, told to us directly, and in many of those failures the carrier was right. It tells you that LTL weight and class disputes recur every week. It does not tell you a rate.
Where the money actually sits
An invoice total can match the quote while single lines drift from the agreed contract or the per-carrier template. A fuel surcharge billed at 34.2% against a template that says 31.2%. An accessorial for a service that is not on the bill of lading. A reweigh nobody checked against the scale ticket.
That is why a check on the total misses it, and why the useful figure is never an industry average. It is the one in your own invoices, and one month of them tells you what it is.
Get your number
Send one invoice you already paid and we audit it line by line against your contract. Or read how the outsourced freight audit desk runs month to month.
- freight audit
- overbilling
- LTL
