The Quiet Errors Costing Companies Millions, and the Firm Built to Find Them

In global logistics, complexity is not an exception. It is the baseline. Every shipment triggers a web of contracts, rates, accessorials, service-level commitments, currencies, and payment systems. At scale, even well-run organizations accept a quiet truth: some portion of transportation spend is wrong. Not fraudulent, not reckless, just wrong. And over time, those errors compound.

Trans Audit was built to confront that reality head-on. Led by Chad Kennedy, President & CEO, the company has grown into the world’s leading transportation post payment expense recovery specialist by doing one thing exceptionally well: identifying and recovering overbillings and overpayments across every mode of freight, worldwide.

What sets Trans Audit apart is not simply the size of the recoveries it delivers, but the discipline, specialization, and Client-centric philosophy behind them. In an industry crowded with broad-service providers, Trans Audit has chosen focus. That choice has defined its leading market position.

A Business Born From Necessity

The transportation industry runs on precision, but invoice payments rarely reflect that ideal. Contracts are complex. Carriers operate across regions and systems. Freight audit and payment providers and Client systems are constrained by time and data availability. Errors slip through, often unnoticed for months or years.

Kennedy has directed Trans Audit with a clear understanding of these gaps. The mission remains straightforward: serve Clients with honesty, transparency, and consistency, while maximizing financial outcomes through post payment verification and overpayment recovery. Under Kennedy’s leadership, Trans Audit has positioned itself not as a transactional service vendor, but as a consultative partner embedded in the Client’s supply chain ecosystem. That orientation shaped everything that followed. Rather than chasing volume for its own sake, the firm invested in expertise, technology, process design, and long-term collaborative relationships. The result is a business that has grown exponentially and has navigated industry shifts, e-commerce growth, and globalization without diluting its core purpose and principles.

Why Post Payment Auditing Matters More Than Ever

The growth of global trade and e-commerce has dramatically increased freight volumes and billing complexity. With that growth comes a higher incidence of billing and payment errors across parcel, LTL, truckload, air, ocean, rail, and specialized logistics services.

Pre-audit systems and freight audit and payment providers play an important role, but they operate under tight time constraints. Many claims for the refund of incorrect billings or overpayments simply cannot be identified or filed within those windows. Post payment auditing and expense recovery extends the review horizon significantly. In some modes, ocean freight in particular, billing errors can be challenged up to three years after shipment. Across most modes, payment data can be reviewed for payment issues and associated refunds for as long as five years.

This extended visibility creates a safety net. It allows corporations to revisit historical spend, validate ongoing billing accuracy, and uncover recoveries that would otherwise remain buried. For organizations without the internal resources or expertise to do this at scale, a specialized partner becomes essential.

Trans Audit built its entire model around that reality.

Specialization as a Strategic Advantage

Unlike providers that bundle post audit services into a broader menu, Trans Audit focuses exclusively on transportation post payment expense recovery. That singular focus has allowed the company to refine its methodologies, technology, and talent to a level competitors and shippers struggle to match.

At the center of the model is Trans Audit’s team of Subject Matter Modal Experts, or SMMEs. These are not junior analysts or generalized auditors. They are industry veterans with an average of more than 20 years of experience in shipping, contract authoring, carrier operations, supply chain environments, accounting, and Client management. Their role is critical. Automated systems can flag anomalies, but transportation billing errors often hide in nuance. Misapplied rates or accessorials, incorrect classifications, detention and demurrage disputes, fuel surcharge calculations, service-level failures, and currency conversions all require human judgment grounded in real-world logistics experience.

By pairing proprietary multi-pass audit systems and technology with deep human expertise, Trans Audit delivers a level of scrutiny that is both comprehensive, credible and unmatched.

A Holistic, End-to-End Process

Trans Audit assumes full responsibility for the post payment cost recovery lifecycle. From onboarding through refund recovery and backend reconciliation, the firm manages the process with minimal Client involvement.

Onboarding is intentionally simple. Clients provide shipment and payment data, a letter of authorization, and carrier agreements. From there, Trans Audit takes over. Using Client data, freight audit and payment provider information, and carrier documentation, Trans Audit’s SMMEs validate charges against contracts, tariffs, and agreed-upon terms, and validate payment accuracy.

The analysis goes beyond surface-level checks. Invoices are reviewed line by line. Distance, weight, dimensional calculations, NMFC classes, FAK tiering, service levels, accessorials, detention, demurrage, and currency accuracy and other factors are all examined. Payment ownership and validity across internal and third-party systems are assessed to uncover hidden overpayments.

Where discrepancies are identified, Trans Audit prepares comprehensive refund claims. These are not generic submissions. They are detailed, defensible, self-supporting and grounded in contractual and operational facts.

Carrier Relations as a Core Capability

One of Trans Audit’s most differentiated strengths is its dedicated Carrier Relations team. Many organizations underestimate how critical this function is to successful claim submission and refund recovery. Filing claims is one thing. Seeing them through to resolution and reimbursement while preserving carrier relationships is another.

Trans Audit’s Carrier Relations Managers work directly with carriers on behalf of Clients. They submit claims, track progress, manage disputes, and bring each case to fruition. Just as importantly, they act as stewards of the Client’s carrier relationships.

This collaborative approach matters. Strong rapport with carriers leads to faster resolution, higher recovery rates, and fewer downstream issues. It also reinforces Trans Audit’s position as an advisor not an adversary in the transportation ecosystem.

The company’s leadership has been explicit about this priority. Maximizing the Client experience extends beyond Client-facing interactions to how Trans Audit engages with carriers and service providers. That philosophy has paid dividends in both results and reputation.

Data That Drives Action, Not Just Reports

Recovery is only part of the value proposition. Insight is the multiplier.

Trans Audit’s analytics platform, TransPortal+ powered by Microsoft Power BI, provides Clients real-time visibility into audit activity and outcomes. The interactive dashboard spans all modes, countries, and currencies, offering a unified view of filed, open, and paid claims.

Clients can analyze results by business unit, carrier, mode, and error type. Drill-up and drill-down functionality allows users to move from high-level trends to individual claim details with a few clicks. Trend analysis and export capabilities support deeper analysis and corrective action.

This visibility transforms post audit from a reactive function into a strategic tool. Clients can identify recurring issues, assess carrier performance, evaluate freight audit and payment providers, and strengthen future contract negotiations. Over time, that intelligence reduces error rates and improves operational discipline.

A Model Built on Alignment

Trans Audit operates on a contingency-based fee structure. Clients pay only for refunds successfully ascertained. This model aligns incentives cleanly. The firm is rewarded only when it delivers measurable value.

Just as important, Trans Audit performs 100 percent of its work in-house. There is no outsourcing of core audit functions. That control ensures consistency, accountability, security, and quality across engagements.

The company’s Client-centric approach extends beyond producing refunds. Trans Audit provides guidance and insight even during the sales process, whether or not a prospect ultimately becomes a Client. That consultative posture has helped the firm consistently win competitive RFPs and displace incumbent providers, including in highly regulated and complex industries such as pharmaceuticals, aerospace, defense, chemical, e-commerce and consumer health shippers.

Trust: The Ultimate Differentiator

Trans Audit’s leadership often emphasizes the distinction between customers and Clients. The capitalization is intentional. It reflects a long-term mindset focused on partnership rather than transactions.

That mindset has translated into strong Client retention and a growing global footprint. Today, Trans Audit leads the industry in the volume of refund claims generated, the financial impact delivered annually, and geographic reach.

Clients consistently cite professionalism, industry knowledge, value delivered, and a non-sales-driven approach as reasons for choosing and staying with Trans Audit. In a space where skepticism is common, trust has become one of  Trans Audit’s most durable and valuable assets.

Investing in the Future of Post Audit

Looking ahead, Trans Audit continues to invest in both people and technology. The company is expanding its human capital, deepening expertise across modes and regions, and integrating artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to enhance its audit capabilities and the benefits delivered to its Clients.

These investments are not about replacing human judgment but augmenting it. AI-driven pattern recognition, anomaly detection, and predictive analytics can help surface opportunities faster and support even more precise reviews. Combined with experienced SMMEs, the next phase of Trans Audit’s evolution aims to deliver greater value with greater efficiency.

Strategically, the company plans to continue expanding its global presence while maintaining its niche focus. The scope of post payment expense recovery is inherently global, and Trans Audit’s model is built to scale without sacrificing quality.

Peace of Mind, Delivered

At its core, Trans Audit offers something deceptively simple: confidence. Confidence that transportation invoices were paid correctly. Confidence that overpayments are identified and recovered. Confidence that carrier relationships are managed professionally. Confidence that data is accurate, visible, and actionable.

In an industry defined by complexity, that peace of mind has real economic value. For Trans Audit’s Clients, it shows up as recovered dollars, improved processes, and stronger partnerships. For the company itself, it has fueled sustained growth and a clear leadership position in worldwide transportation expense recovery.

By choosing focus over breadth, expertise over automation alone, and partnership over transactions, Trans Audit has turned an overlooked back-office function into a strategic advantage. And in the process, it has quietly redefined what world-class post payment cost recovery looks like.

To learn more about transaudit vist:
 www.transaudit.com