The Manual State of Freight Broker Operations Today
One of the most persistent challenges that freight brokerages deal with is the sheer volume of manual work necessary to service their customer freight and communicate with the vendors involved in on a day-to-day basis. In a recent survey from FreightCaviar of a hundred freight brokers, seven out of ten brokers reported that incorrect or invalid paperwork is their biggest pain point when processing carrier invoices.
Most brokers receive carrier paperwork via an email inbox, that serves multiple purposes, and inevitably devote countless hours sifting through emails to manually mix and match load documents before invoicing their customer. Brokers today review every single invoice detail in order to match PODs to invoices, rate cons, accessorials, and more, while also trying to spot true issues and exceptions. These tedious processes lead to countless workflow inefficiencies and present the opportunity for human error on both sides. In the case of an invoice dispute, the resolution process is also handled via similar email/phone communication channels which can delay AR/AP processes, cause additional frustration for carrier and broker, and cause additional unnecessary human intervention.
This is where Epay Manager Powered by OTR Solutions can help. There is a massive need for automation in the trucking industry to alleviate the inefficient manual processes that are pervasive across the space; in particular for freight brokers to better navigate carrier/factor relationships and payment facilitation.
What is Epay Manager
Epay Manager Powered by OTR Solutions is a web-based back-office automation and carrier payments and billing platform designed specifically for the logistics industry. Epay’s advanced automation helps freight brokers to reduce costs and increase efficiencies of their back-office operations with innovative solutions while providing a new level of transparency to carrier, factor, and shipper partners in a real-time invoice management portal.
One of the key ways that Epay Manager is leveling up automation in the logistics industry is through a proactive Audit Proof Invoicing system. This workflow approaches carrier payments by using the broker’s TMS data as the source of truth and the trigger that begins the invoicing process by autogenerate the carrier invoice and soliciting the POD. Epay is currently integrated with most leading brokerage TMS providers, such as McLeod, Aljex, TAI, TMW and more. Epay’s vast TMS network, combined with its carrier onboarding integrations (RMIS, MyCarrierPortal and Highway) provide a end-to-end automations for its users.
Once the load is delivered, the broker’s TMS pushes all relevant load data into the Epay Manager system, which auto-generates the carrier’s invoice and solicits load docs from the carrier or factor. The broker’s back-office team receives an alert when the delivery documents are submitted/paired to the proper load and begin their review. This eliminates the need to “Audit” the carrier on the load, the amount being invoiced, or that the rate con matches the POD. Once the broker approves the transaction for payment, an ACH is scheduled automatically on the date the agreed upon payment date. By automating invoice creation, document matching, and dispute workflows, Epay Manager is revolutionizing the broker back-office experience.
Epay Manager At a Glance
- 100,000+ carrier and factors use Epay for invoicing and AR communications
- Millions of transactions automated annually for complex brokerage operations
- 40% – 50% decrease in cost per load, across on Epay users on average
Ways that Epay Manager is Improving Automation in the Trucking Industry
1) Centralized communications within an interactive portal.
Epay Manager’s web-based portal allows a broker and their carrier or factor partners to utilize one system for all post-delivery interactions. This vastly improves data accuracy and efficiency of broker’s back-office teams. Epay acts as an external platform where carriers and factors can submit documents, resolve disputes and have unrivaled payment visibility with complete audit trails for all activity. As a web-based portal there is no need to download any app or software to regularly maintain.
2) Automate carrier invoicing & expedite POD retrieval via an Audit Proof Invoicing workflow.
This game-changing approach to invoice automation and payment processing completely eliminates the need to manage and match documents received via email. Instead, Epay’s Audit Proof Invoicing system relies on the freight broker’s TMS data as the single source of truth which ensures accuracy and mitigates risk. The broker’s TMS will trigger Epay to create the carrier invoice and reach out to the carrier directly to solicit delivery documents. This system generated notification to the carrier vastly speeds up document collection and ensures accuracy of the documents submitted. With this expedited workflow brokers are able to process 3-5x the number of invoices per team member.
3) AI driven NLP invoice automation to eliminate manual document review.
Epay’s newest feature, powered by OTR Solutions, offers users exclusive access to an industry leading homegrown AI driven NLP invoice automation platform. Epay’s NLP automation eliminates tedious manual document review and issue spotting by highlighting the exceptions that require human intervention, speeding up processing times and shifting employee focus to true issue resolution. This AI/NLP platform has been refined by millions of invoices, billions in freight spend, and hundreds of thousands of human training hours. On average, freight brokers who utilize Epay see a 40-50% reduction in back-office cost per load based on the efficiencies created by these automations.
4) Flawless carrier payments and 100% in-platform dispute resolution.
All disputes are handled in-platform, providing full transparency to both parties. With communication stored in the centralized platform, Epay is successfully eliminating “swivel chair integrations” and disjointed communications that result in lost productivity hours, carrier short pays and customer rebills. Any rate changes to the AP record can be automatically applied to the corresponding AR record, for error-free billing with your shipper. All changes are automatically updated in the broker’s TMS, removing chances for human error and truly synchronizing your AP and AR management. Through this automated process, freight brokers can reduce inaccurate billing and settlement by up to 99%.
5) Seamless carrier interactions with an automated carrier onboarding process.
Brokers can take advantage of Epay’s automated carrier onboarding through integrations with the top 3rd party onboarding software’s, MCP, Highway, and RMIS. Within the portal carriers are able to upload their banking information and keep that information up to date, providing additional security and ensuring that they are always paid to the correct account. Carrier onboarding is a breeze with over 100,000 carrier and factors already utilizing the platform today. Epay has found that on average 80% of broker’s carrier partners are already set up with and using Epay’s platform.
Impact of Implementing Epay Manager for Freight Brokers
- 3-5x increase in invoice processing per team member.
- 40-50% decrease in cost per load.
- 99% decrease in inaccurate billing and settlement.
Acquisition of Epay Manager by OTR Solutions
Epay Manager was founded in 2003 and acquired by OTR Solutions in 2024. Founded by experienced fleet owners and freight brokers, Epay has continuously refined the product over the last 20 years to fit the needs of brokerage operations of all sizes. Epay’s system was built by people who deeply understand the industry.
The acquisition by OTR Solutions combines Epay’s carrier management technology with OTR’s robust working capital and suite of solutions. Together, they aim to create the most complete and compelling carrier payments platform in the industry, one that fosters positive and collaborative relationships with carriers and turns the back office into a profit center.
Getting Started with Epay Manager
Brokers seeking to optimize and scale their back-office operation without spending excessive amounts of time and money on technology and personnel can schedule a demo and begin processing invoices in as little as two weeks.
TMS providers interested in building an integration with Epay Manager can do so in as little as 30 days with the platform’s advanced open API’s. Carriers and factoring providers seeking a broker on the Epay Manager platform can simply create an account to take advantage of the available offerings.