We list where the alternative is the better choice. Buyers who get the comparison straight stay longer.
Most D&D disputes are handled — or not — by the import clerk who received the invoice. For a small forwarder with one or two carriers and good contracts, that can remain adequate.
| Dimension | D&D Pilot | Doing it in operations |
|---|---|---|
| Who does it | Clerk, in spare minutes, a month after delivery | Same clerk, three minutes per invoice, with the file built |
| Evidence | Gathered by hand from five systems | Assembled from documents already in the workspace |
| Below-threshold invoices | Paid | Disputed, because looking costs nothing |
| Recovery data | None | Tracker and reports by carrier and cause |
| When the alternative is better | — | Very low volume, one carrier, a contract the clerk knows by heart |
Audit providers rate invoices against contracts at scale and are paid per invoice or on recoveries. Several now add AI to invoice capture and anomaly detection.
| Dimension | D&D Pilot | Freight-audit and payment providers |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Outsourced service | Software your own desk runs — or the audit provider runs |
| D&D depth | Rating and flagging | Full dispute file: timeline, clause, evidence gaps, carrier-format letter, second rounds |
| Your contracts | Held by the provider | Held in your workspace |
| Who it suits | Shippers who want to outsource the whole audit | Forwarders, 3PLs and audit desks who do the disputing themselves |
| When the alternative is better | — | You want to outsource invoice audit end to end, not just D&D |
TMS and container-tracking platforms hold the shipment data and increasingly show D&D risk before it happens. Prevention is their strength.
| Dimension | D&D Pilot | TMS and visibility platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Timing | After the invoice arrives | Before and during free time |
| Output | Dispute file and letter | Alerts and dashboards |
| Data source | Your documents, no integration | Integrated with carriers and terminals |
| Relationship | Complementary — TMS data can feed D&D Pilot on Enterprise | — |
| When the alternative is better | — | Your problem is avoiding D&D, not disputing it |
We are onboarding a small number of design partners with real documents and real deadlines. Tell us what you work on and we will set up a workspace with your material.