Every leak below is one we can name from experience. None of them are exotic; all of them are process failures.
01Quoting on the wrong measurement
The client says "about 12 cubic metres". It arrives at 14.6 CBM. You quoted per CBM and absorbed the difference, or you invoice the difference and have an unhappy client.
Control: quote against declared dimensions, stated in the quote, with a line saying charges are subject to re-measurement at the CFS.
02Currency drift
The carrier bills USD, you quoted THB, and four weeks pass between quote and invoice.
Control: state the exchange rate and its basis in the quote, or quote in the same currency you are billed in. On long-lead bookings, a currency clause is fair to both sides.
03Surcharges announced after booking
PSS, war risk, and emergency surcharges arrive with days of notice and apply to cargo already booked.
Control: an explicit line — "rates subject to carrier surcharges introduced after quotation date" — and, more importantly, a call to the client the day you learn of it, not on the invoice.
04Demurrage and detention absorbed to keep the peace
The single largest leak. The client's paperwork is late, the box sits, and nobody wants the conversation.
Control: agree in writing at onboarding who bears these charges. Send a free-time countdown notice at day 1 and day 3 of arrival. Escalate before the charge, not after.
05Accessorials never billed
Truck waiting time at a factory. A re-delivery because the warehouse was closed. A weekend gate-in. Each is small; together they are a month's profit on an account.
Control: a standard accessorial tariff attached to every quote, and an operations habit of logging the event the day it happens. An accessorial billed three weeks later gets disputed.
06Buying at spot, selling at contract
The client is on an annual rate; the market moved and your buying rate went up. You are honouring a rate you can no longer buy.
Control: market-movement clauses on annual agreements, quarterly review points, and buying-side contracts that mirror your selling commitments in duration.
07Free work absorbed as service
Re-issuing documents because the shipper changed the consignee twice. Chasing a certificate of origin. Amending a B/L after the manifest closed.
Control: a published amendment fee. Charging it is not unfriendly; it is what makes the second amendment less likely.
08The habit that fixes most of it
Reconcile every job file — quoted versus actual — within a week of completion, not at month end. Patterns show up in the first ten files: one lane where trucking is always underquoted, one client whose paperwork is always late, one destination where storage always runs. You cannot fix what you only see in aggregate.