Guide
Brands switch 3PLs to save money and then watch the first invoices come in higher than the bid. The causes repeat: courier surcharges that were never on the sheet, dimensional weight the bid did not model, a storage practice nobody asked about, and fees that start after the ramp. This guide covers the causes 3PL Hub sees most, how to prevent each one before signing, and how to handle the invoice when it is already too late.
Market rates for every line are in the pricing guide. The prevention steps live in how to compare 3PL quotes.
Cause 1
Courier is around two thirds of a DTC fulfillment invoice, so it is where most of the gap between bid and invoice appears. Three versions of the same problem:
A beauty brand shipping over 40,000 DTC orders a month chose what looked like the cheapest 3PL. Price drove the decision because of their unit economics. We learned quickly that the courier rate charts offered in the proposal were not actually being used, the rates were more conceptual than actual, and the courier mix was nothing like what was expected. Shipping came in substantially higher than the bid.
Prevention. Rate your own parcel export on each bidder's card with surcharges as dollar amounts and the dim divisor applied, and ask each 3PL to confirm in writing that the card and carrier mix in the bid are the ones it ships on today. Ask for the last month of actual shipping data from a reference client on the same services. The courier steps in the comparison guide walk through it.
Cause 2
A 3PL can only price what it is given. Two omissions from the RFP pack account for a large share of post-switch surprises: product dimensions and weights missing from the SKU master, and no parcel export from the outgoing 3PL or carrier account. Without dimensions the 3PL guesses at billed weight and packaging. Without the parcel export it guesses at the weight, zone and service mix. Both guesses tend to be optimistic, because the 3PL is bidding, and both get corrected on the first invoice.
Two things brands get wrong before the bids even come in: not supplying accurate product dimensions, and not giving the 3PLs a shipping file export. The export is the single most important input for courier accuracy. Every 3PL should be rating the same real parcels.
Prevention. Measure and weigh every active SKU before the RFP, and pull twelve months of parcels with billed weight, dimensions, service and destination ZIP from the current 3PL or carrier account. Both go in the pack to every bidder.
Cause 3
Storage rates are consistent across the industry, which is why brands stop looking once the per-pallet rate is in range. The practices around the rate are where the invoice moves: whether occupancy is billed on the daily average or the peak day of the month, whether the billing month starts on the first or on receipt, when the long-term storage multiplier triggers, and whether there is a storage charge on receipt in addition to the receiving fee.
An early client switched to what they saw as a lower-cost 3PL and their storage bill almost doubled against what they expected. They turned over about 80% of their inventory every 30 to 45 days. The new 3PL charged $14 per pallet per month for recurring storage and $6 per pallet for receiving, which we had. What we missed was a $14 per pallet storage fee on receipt, so every pallet paid storage twice in its first month. For a brand turning inventory that fast, that is most of the storage bill. The 3PL took some responsibility and cut that receipt charge in half, but it never went away.
Prevention. Four questions on the bid sheet, answered in writing: average or peak-day occupancy; what happens to a pallet received on the 28th; the long-term trigger and multiplier; and whether any storage, handling or "put-away" charge applies on receipt beyond the receiving fee. Brands with fast inventory turns should price a full inbound-and-outbound cycle rather than a static pallet count.
Cause 4
Some lines are quiet in the first month and loud in the fourth. Monthly minimums start once an onboarding grace period ends. Account management and software fees start once the "waived for onboarding" period lapses. Below-minimum fees appear in the first slow month. Peak surcharges appear in October. And B2B order fees, quoted per order at a rate that looked small, turn out to be per carton, per pallet, per routing-guide label and per EDI document once real retail orders ship.
When I audit invoices for clients, the inconsistencies are usually in DTC courier and, surprisingly often, in B2B order fees. That is why the RFP pack should include real example B2B orders and DTC orders, so you can see exactly how each 3PL applies its rates to those shipments before you sign.
Prevention. Every fixed fee on the bid sheet as an annual figure with its start date; the minimum written as a ramp that scales with a volume forecast both sides sign; and five real retail orders priced by every bidder during the RFP, with the totals compared line by line.
After go-live
The first invoice is where the bid meets reality, and the first three months are when discrepancies are cheapest to correct. Check it line by line against the bid sheet: order and unit counts against your store, storage against your inventory report, receiving against your inbound log, every courier line against the rate card and divisor in the contract, and every fee against its start date.
Audit the first invoice, and keep auditing for the first three months. If there is a large discrepancy, question the invoice before you pay it. Like any invoice, it is easier to negotiate from a position of strength, and it is far easier to withhold a payment than to claw one back. It sounds unfair, but that is how the industry works.
| Invoice line | Check against | Common finding |
|---|---|---|
| Orders and units | Store export for the period | Cancelled or split orders billed; first pick billed on top of an all-in order fee |
| Courier | Contract rate card, surcharge schedule and dim divisor, per parcel | Surcharges above the schedule; dim weight at a lower divisor than contracted; a service level the parcel did not need |
| Storage | Daily inventory report | Peak-day billing where average was agreed; storage charged on receipt; long-term trigger applied early |
| Receiving | Inbound log and packing lists | Hourly rate applied to palletized freight; per-unit fees on top of per-pallet fees |
| B2B orders | Retail orders shipped, with cartons and pallets | Per-carton and per-label fees not in the bid; EDI document fees on every transaction type |
| Fixed fees | Contract start dates | Account, software or minimum charged inside the waived period |
3PL Hub audits invoices for brands as a standalone service, usually the first three months after a switch or the three months before a renegotiation. The findings feed the 90 day rate review that should be in every new contract.
Fixable or not
Rates applied above the contract, surcharges above the schedule, fees inside a waived period. Dispute before paying, with the contract line cited. These get corrected.
A charge the bid never mentioned, like storage on receipt. A reasonable 3PL will share the cost once, and sometimes reprice it; the storage-on-receipt client got it cut in half.
The 3PL priced 1.5 units per order and you ship 2.5. The 90 day rate review is the place to reprice in either direction, if the contract has one.
Courier rates that were conceptual, a low dim divisor, blended rates. These are in the contract now. The lever is the SLA and termination clause, or the next RFP.
A bid built without dimensions or a parcel export was priced on a different business. Expect a reprice, and supply the data before it happens.
A contract without SLAs tied to termination for cause leaves no leverage once service or invoices go wrong. Prevent it in the RFP.
3PL Hub audits 3PL invoices line by line against the bid and contract, and runs the 90 day rate review with you. Paid by the brand only; no commission from 3PLs.
FAQ
Usually courier: surcharges that were quoted at cost rather than as numbers, dimensional weight the bid did not model, or a rate card in the proposal that the 3PL was not actually shipping on. After that, storage practices such as a storage charge on receipt, and fixed fees or minimums that start once the onboarding period ends.
Order and unit counts against your store, every courier line against the contract rate card, surcharge schedule and dim divisor, storage against your daily inventory report, receiving against your inbound log, B2B orders against the cartons and pallets shipped, and every fixed fee against its contracted start date.
Question it before paying. Withholding a disputed line while it is resolved is standard in the industry and far easier than recovering money already paid. Cite the contract line for each item you dispute.
A per-pallet storage charge applied when inventory arrives, on top of the receiving fee and the recurring monthly storage rate. For brands that turn inventory quickly it can double the storage bill. Ask every bidder whether any charge applies on receipt beyond receiving.
Every invoice for the first three months, then spot checks. The first three months are when discrepancies are cheapest to correct and when the 90 day rate review can reprice a mismatch between the bid profile and reality.
Yes. 3PL Hub audits invoices line by line against the bid sheet and contract for brands, typically for the first three months after a switch or ahead of a renegotiation. The most common findings are in DTC courier and B2B order fees.
Free for brands. No commissions. Your details go only to the 3PLs you match with.
Get matched to 3PLs
The commission-free 3PL directory and matchmaking platform. 5,000+ 3PLs, 200+ verified members, and 3PLs never pay us to be recommended.
3PL, fulfillment, M&A, eCommerce and trade, written by a human. Read by 3,000+ operators and the logistics ecosystem.
Subscribe to Taking Inventory Free. Every two weeks. Unsubscribe any time.