FAQs

Q. Will this affect my relationship with my carrier?

A. Yes, but in a good way. Managing your carrier relationship is paramount to the mutual business successes. A carrier’s ultimate goal is a satisfied shipper, included in that satisfaction is correct billings. When PMAC corrects billing errors early in the relationship it prevents them from happening in the future...it gives you confidence and gives the carrier revenue security. See the M. Watson Law Case Study. Also, understanding your shipping personality will enable you to operate more efficiently within the carrier networks, thereby decreasing costs on both sides.

Q. What is PMAC’s fee?

A. For the most comprehensive line item audit in the industry PMAC works on a contingency gain/share of reconciled refunds. For special consulting projects fees apply and are assessed on a project by project basis.

Q. How and when does PMAC get paid?

A. We get paid our contingency gain/share split once you receive carrier-verified credits on your carrier invoices.

Q. When do we get invoiced?

A. Auditing services are billed for reconciled refunds monthly once refunds appear on the carrier’s invoices. Other projects are billed upon completion.

Q. Do you do anything else? Negotiate contracts, consult, and provide reporting?

A. Data capture and analysis is our business. The combination of this data analysis, capture and hundreds of combined years of industry knowledge enable us to provide customers with answers to all their carrier, freight and shipping questions.

Q. Is there an extra charge for custom reporting?

A. Yes.

Q. How long have you been in business?

A. Since 1998.

Q. Do you own your own software?

A. Yes, PMAC’s proprietary software is Parcel Ally™. Parcel Ally is a web-based system that automatically generates the most comprehensive shipping reports and performs the industry’s most comprehensive line item audits.

Q. Why PMAC? What makes PMAC better than your competitors?

A. PMAC is a respected leader in the industry and has established a track record of success providing auditing and contracting services for carriers. While many other companies believe that reviewing only 5 or 6 different shipment criteria is sufficient, PMAC performs one of the most thorough reviews that today includes over 50 criteria.

Q. Do the carriers hate you?

A. No. They appreciate the opportunity to reconcile billing errors for their customers’ satisfaction.

Q. How did you get into this? How did PMAC start?

A. We began shortly after purchasing a DHL franchise in October of 1998. Our customers needed us to be proactive in their service refunds, and bigger customers needed more shipment visibility.

Q. How far back can we go to get invoices reconciled and credits due us adjusted?

A. 180 days.

Q. What kind of files do need from the carrier?

A. PMAC currently supports UPS BAT (billing data) file, CSV, FedEx ASCII250 Proprietary, and USPS Manifest Data. Additional variations are also supported.

Q. Do you work with paper invoices?

A. No, we do not use them for auditing purposes; just for reference if needed.

Q. Do you do GL coding?

A. Yes. We have been instrumental in some of the most complicated GL coding schemes.

Q. How can we get started?

A. As soon as contracts and Mutual Confidentiality Agreements are in place we can commence the audit process.

Q. What do you need from us?

A. We need your weekly carrier invoice. For UPS we will get copied on UPS' billing email link or we require the user name and password to UPS.com where your weekly invoice files are received; our Auto Download Manager (ADM) will gather a year's worth of your older invoice files. For FedEx we can obtain invoice files from the FedEx FTP site on your behalf. The FedEx setup is done via the EDI department. You are copied on all correspondence and it will not effect your current process of receiving invoice files. FedEx allows for multiple invoicing options simultaneously.

Q. Do we call in the refund opportunities or do you send us a file and we contact our carrier directly?

A. PMAC handles the entire refund process on your behalf. From the recognition of overcharges to the reconciliation on your carrier invoices, PMAC will do all the work.

Q. Do you check to make sure we are getting the correct discounts?

A. Yes. Upon receipt of the carrier contract every customer has a rating script specifically made to address their individual carrier incentive discounts across all service levels.

Q. Do you check dimensional weights?

A. Yes. Evaluating dimensional weights is essential, especially for shippers with oversized packages. Please consult with us on your box sizes.

Q. Do you check for contractual considerations? Rebate amounts?

A. Yes. Specialized scripts for assessing what comprises your carrier revenue bands as well as other special contractual considerations are made specifically for you.

Q. We use multiple carriers. Will you audit all of them?

A. Yes. If it has a barcode we will audit it.

Q. How soon can we expect to see invoice credits and adjustments?

A. Once the audit process has begun shippers can expect to begin seeing credits within the first three weeks. Thereafter, the flow becomes more consistent.