LTL Freight FAQ

LanePilot is an LTL freight rate intelligence platform for shippers running 20 to 250 loads per month. It pulls live rates from 135 carriers, automatically audits your freight invoices for billing errors, and benchmarks your contract rates against the live spot market, lane by lane.

LanePilot is built for freight managers, transportation managers, and logistics directors at manufacturers, distributors, and growing e-commerce operations that ship 20 to 250 LTL loads per month. It's designed for teams that are too sophisticated for a phone call and a spreadsheet but too lean to justify an enterprise TMS.

A TMS is a full transportation management system that typically requires an IT deployment, a consultant, and a dedicated team to run. LanePilot does three specific things really well: rate comparison, invoice auditing, and contract benchmarking. There's no rollout, no integration project, and no IT department required. Most shippers are up and running the same day they sign up.

A freight broker negotiates and books freight on your behalf, often earning a margin on the transaction. LanePilot is a software platform. It gives you the rate data, the audit tools, and the dispute documents you need to manage freight yourself, on better terms. LanePilot never touches your freight and never earns a margin on your shipments.

No. LanePilot is designed to make your existing carrier relationships more valuable, not replace them. When you have accurate lane-specific performance data and invoice audit results, your carrier conversations are based on facts instead of gut feel. That's better for everyone.

LanePilot is headquartered in Erie, Pennsylvania, at the intersection of major freight corridors connecting the Great Lakes region, the Northeast, and the Midwest.

You upload your carrier invoice and LanePilot compares it against your original quote and your negotiated contract rates. Any discrepancy gets flagged automatically, whether that's a duplicate charge, a fuel surcharge error, an unapplied discount, or an accessorial fee you never approved.

LanePilot flags unauthorized accessorial charges, fuel surcharge overcharges, reweigh fees that weren't part of the original quote, unapplied contract discounts, duplicate invoices, and reclassification charges. Each flagged item shows the specific line item, the amount in question, and whether it's unauthorized or needs verification before disputing.

Accessorial charges are fees carriers add on top of the base freight rate. Things like liftgate service, residential delivery, inside pickup, or detention time. They're legitimate when they reflect actual services, but they're also one of the most common sources of billing errors. LanePilot flags any accessorial charge that wasn't on your original quote or that exceeds your contracted rates.

An LTL freight invoice typically includes a PRO number, origin and destination, freight class, weight, base linehaul charge, fuel surcharge, and any accessorial charges. The total should match what was quoted. When it doesn't, the difference is usually in the accessorial charges, the fuel surcharge calculation, or a reclassification of your freight class. LanePilot breaks down each line item and flags the ones that don't match your quote or contract.

Fuel surcharges on LTL freight are calculated as a percentage of the linehaul charge and adjust weekly based on fuel indexes. If the surcharge on your invoice is higher than expected, it could be that the carrier applied the wrong fuel index, calculated it against the wrong base rate, or applied a surcharge table that doesn't match your contract. LanePilot compares your invoiced fuel surcharge against your contracted rate and flags any variance.

A reweigh charge appears when a carrier weighs your shipment at their terminal and gets a different number than what you declared on the Bill of Lading. If the carrier's weight is higher, they'll invoice for the additional weight. Reweigh charges are one of the most commonly disputed items in LTL freight. LanePilot flags reweigh charges that weren't on your original quote so you can decide whether to verify or dispute.

Under 49 U.S. Code section 13710, shippers have 180 days from receipt of the invoice to file a formal dispute. After 180 days, you generally lose the right to contest the charge. LanePilot flags billing errors as soon as you upload the invoice so you have maximum time to act.

A duplicate invoice is when a carrier bills you twice for the same shipment. It happens more often than most shippers expect, particularly with high shipment volumes where invoices are processed in batches. LanePilot flags potential duplicates during the audit process.

When LanePilot flags an overcharge, you can generate a formatted dispute letter in one click. The letter references the specific invoice line items, the rate you were originally quoted, and the amount owed. You print it and file it directly with the carrier yourself, either through their billing portal or by email. LanePilot is a software tool, not a broker, and does not file on your behalf.

Start by identifying the specific charges that are incorrect. Then send a formal written dispute to the carrier's billing department referencing the PRO number, the invoiced amount, the amount you believe is correct, and the reason for the dispute. LanePilot generates the dispute letter for you and provides the carrier's billing contact details so you can file directly.

Document the discrepancy first. Gather your original quote, the carrier invoice, and your Bill of Lading. Then file a written dispute with the carrier's billing department, clearly stating the overcharged amount and the rate that should have applied. Reference 49 U.S. Code section 13710 in your letter, which requires carriers to resolve disputes within 120 days of acknowledgment. LanePilot generates this letter for you automatically when it detects a discrepancy.

A reclassification dispute happens when a carrier changes your freight class after pickup, usually because they believe your shipment was classified incorrectly on the Bill of Lading. A higher freight class means a higher rate. If you believe the reclassification was wrong, you can dispute it by providing documentation showing the correct NMFC code for your commodity. This is one of the most common and winnable disputes in LTL freight.

To dispute an accessorial charge, you need to show that the service either wasn't performed, wasn't requested, or wasn't included in your quote or contract. Your dispute letter should reference the original quote showing the charge was not included and request a credit for the full amount. LanePilot identifies unauthorized accessorial charges during invoice audit and includes them automatically in the generated dispute letter.

Most carriers acknowledge freight disputes within 30 days and resolve them within 60 to 120 days. Under federal regulation, carriers are required to resolve disputes within 120 days of acknowledgment. Simple accessorial charge disputes typically resolve faster than reclassification or weight disputes.

Federal law gives shippers 180 days from receipt of a freight invoice to file a formal dispute under 49 U.S. Code section 13710. After 180 days, you typically lose the right to dispute the charge regardless of the merits. LanePilot flags billing errors as soon as invoices are uploaded, giving you the maximum window to act.

LanePilot compares rates across 135 LTL carriers, including Old Dominion, XPO Freight, Estes Express, ABF Freight, and Saia. Upload your own carrier contracts and your negotiated rates apply in every comparison, not just published tariff rates.

You describe your shipment and LanePilot queries its carrier network, ranks results by price, transit time, and lane-specific carrier performance, and returns results in under 60 seconds. If you've uploaded your carrier contracts, your negotiated rates are applied automatically.

Rate benchmarking means comparing your contracted carrier rates against what the live market is charging for the same lane and freight class. LanePilot benchmarks your contract rates against live GoShip spot market data and the Cass Freight Index, lane by lane. If your negotiated rate is consistently above market, that's the data you need for your next carrier negotiation.

The only way to know is to compare them against live market rates on the same lanes you're actually shipping. LanePilot does this automatically, showing you lane by lane where your contracted rates are above or below market.

A contract rate is a negotiated rate you've agreed to with a specific carrier for a defined period, usually tied to your freight volume and lanes. A spot rate is the price available in the open market on any given day with no prior commitment. Spot rates fluctuate with market conditions. Contract rates provide price stability but can fall out of alignment with the market over time. LanePilot shows you both so you can see when your contract rates are no longer competitive.

A rate alert lets you set a target price on a specific lane. LanePilot monitors rates every 4 hours and notifies you the moment a carrier hits your threshold. This is useful when you have a recurring lane where rates fluctuate and you want to book opportunistically when pricing drops.

LanePilot connects directly to carrier rate engines so you can pull live quotes from up to 135 carriers without calling a broker or logging into multiple carrier portals. Describe your shipment, get ranked results in under 60 seconds. Your negotiated rates apply automatically if you've uploaded your carrier contracts.

A carrier scorecard is a performance summary for a specific carrier on your specific lanes. It tracks metrics like on-time delivery rate, invoice accuracy, claims rate, and transit time consistency. LanePilot builds carrier scorecards from your actual shipment history, not industry averages. The scorecard gets more accurate the more you ship through LanePilot.

Evaluate carriers on the lanes you actually ship, not on their national averages. The metrics that matter most are on-time delivery rate, invoice accuracy, claims rate, and transit time consistency. LanePilot tracks all of these automatically from your shipment data and builds a scorecard for each carrier on each of your lanes.

The seven metrics that matter most in LTL freight are on-time delivery rate, invoice accuracy rate, claims rate, transit time consistency, accessorial charge frequency, reweigh frequency, and reclassification rate. LanePilot tracks all seven for each carrier on each of your lanes and updates them with every shipment you run.

On-time performance above 95% is strong for LTL freight, 90 to 95% is acceptable, and below 90% on a regular lane is a meaningful performance concern. Regional carriers often outperform national carriers on their core lanes. LanePilot tracks your carriers' actual on-time rates on your specific lanes, which is more useful than industry-wide averages.

LanePilot pulls data from every quote, booking, and invoice you run through the platform. Over time it builds a lane-specific performance record for each carrier you use. The scorecard weights seven performance metrics and updates automatically with each new shipment. The longer you use LanePilot, the more accurate your scorecards become.

No. LanePilot is built for shippers who don't have or don't want a full TMS. There's no IT rollout, no consultant, and no integration setup. You can start comparing rates and auditing invoices from day one.

Most users are up and running within a few minutes. Sign up, upload your carrier contracts if you have them, and you can start pulling live rate comparisons immediately. Invoice audit is available as soon as you upload your first invoice.

Early access members get full platform access when LanePilot opens, lock in launch-day pricing before it's publicly announced, and have the opportunity to give direct feedback that shapes what gets built. There's no credit card required to reserve your spot.

Your contract rates are your competitive advantage. LanePilot encrypts them and shares them with no one — not your carriers, not your competitors.

LanePilot connects directly to live carrier rate engines to pull current pricing. You don't need to set up EDI connections or work with your IT team. For your negotiated rates, you upload your carrier contracts and LanePilot extracts the rates, terms, and expiry dates automatically.

LanePilot offers tiered pricing. Early access members lock in launch-day pricing before it's publicly announced. Visit the pricing page for current plan details.