Website Terms of Use

1. Who these terms apply to

This website (freightauditpilot.com) (the “Site”) is intended for businesses — importers, exporters, motor carriers, and logistics professionals — and their representatives. By using the Site you confirm that you are acting on behalf of a business and are at least 18 years old. The Site is not directed to consumers.

2. What the Site is

The Site describes our freight invoice audit and overcharge recovery services and lets you request information or a consultation. Using the Site does not create a client relationship. Except for the Invoice Health Check purchased under Section 2A, our services are provided only under a signed Freight Audit & Recovery Services Agreement, and nothing on the Site is an offer that can be accepted by submitting a form.

2A. Invoice Health Check — purchase terms

These terms apply when you buy an Invoice Health Check through the Stripe checkout linked from the Site. They are the “Invoice Health Check terms” referred to at checkout.

2A.1 What you buy

For a one-time fee of US $750, FAP will review up to twenty-five (25) freight, demurrage, detention, per diem, chassis, drayage, LTL or parcel invoices dated within the twelve (12) months before purchase, together with any contracts, rate confirmations or payment records you choose to supply, and deliver an Invoice Health Report identifying billing errors, the dollar amounts at stake, which charges FAP believes are disputable and on what basis, and suggested process improvements. Invoices beyond 25, invoices older than 12 months, illegible files and customs, duty or tax lines are out of scope and are not scored.

2A.2 Turnaround

FAP will deliver the report within 48 business hours (two business days, Monday–Friday, excluding U.S. federal holidays) after FAP confirms in writing that your batch is complete and readable (the “intake-complete” confirmation). Files received after 2:00 pm Eastern Time count from the next business day. The clock does not start until intake is complete.

2A.3 What is not included

The Invoice Health Check is analysis only. FAP will not contact any carrier, terminal, trucker, forwarder or other billing party, will not submit any dispute or claim, and will not recover any money under this purchase. Disputes and recovery are provided only under a separately signed Freight Audit & Recovery Services Agreement and Letter of Authorization. The report is business information from a commercial audit provider; it is not legal advice, and FAP is not a law firm, customs broker, ocean transportation intermediary or freight-payment provider. FAP never receives or holds your funds.

2A.4 Refund guarantee

If the report shows less than $750 of disputable charges, FAP will refund the full $750 to the original payment method within five (5) business days after delivering the report, and you keep the report. “Disputable charges” means the report’s Disputable total — amounts FAP identifies on the documents you supplied as having a documented ground for a written dispute; “needs evidence” and “not claimable” amounts are not counted. The guarantee is measured on the report at delivery, not on any later recovery, and applies only if your batch includes at least ten (10) demurrage, detention, per diem or chassis invoices dated within the last 12 months. FAP will tell you before intake-complete if your batch does not meet this condition, and you may add invoices.

2A.5 Credit against the contingency fee

If you sign a Freight Audit & Recovery Services Agreement with FAP within thirty (30) days after the report date (or a longer period FAP grants in writing), the full $750 is credited against the first contingency-fee invoice(s) under that agreement until exhausted. The credit is per company, does not convert to cash, and expires at the end of the initial term of that agreement. No credit applies if the fee was refunded under Section 2A.4.

2A.6 Payment and receipts

Payment is processed by Stripe, Inc. on behalf of the entity named at the top of these Terms; FAP does not receive or store your card or bank account number. The charge will appear on your statement under the descriptor shown at checkout. Prices exclude any applicable sales or use tax.

2A.7 Your documents

You confirm you have the right to share the documents you upload. FAP treats them as confidential, stores them on U.S.-hosted systems, uses them only to prepare your report (and, if you proceed, your recovery engagement), and will delete them on your written request made within 90 days after delivery, except for copies FAP must keep for legal, tax or dispute purposes. FAP uses software, including AI tools whose terms prohibit training on your data, with human review before delivery.

2A.8 No other guarantee; liability

Amounts shown in the report are FAP’s good-faith assessment on the documents supplied; FAP does not guarantee that any billing party will refund, credit or waive any amount. FAP’s total liability arising from an Invoice Health Check is limited to the fee you paid for it. Sections 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11 of these Terms also apply.

2B. Guard subscription — purchase terms

These terms apply when you subscribe to a Guard tier (Starter, Growth or Scale) through the Stripe checkout linked from the Site. They are the “Guard subscription terms” referred to at checkout. Enterprise is contracted only under a signed Freight Audit & Recovery Services Agreement.

2B.1 What you buy

For a monthly fee of US $299 (Guard Starter, up to 100 containers a year), US $799 (Guard Growth, up to 500 containers a year) or US $1,999 (Guard Scale, up to 2,000 containers a year), billed monthly in advance, FAP will (a) screen each new freight, demurrage, detention, per diem, chassis, drayage or LTL invoice you forward before you pay it and flag billing errors; (b) continue the 12-month look-back audit of paid invoices; (c) deliver a monthly findings report and a quarterly recovery statement; (d) keep your service contracts, rate confirmations and quotes on file so rate checks run against them; and (e) provide Claims and Dispute Advisory at the subscriber rate in Section 2B.4. Guard Scale also includes a monthly 30-minute readout call. A subscriber whose volume exceeds the tier band moves to the next tier from the following billing month; no overage fees apply.

2B.2 Contingency rate

While your subscription is active, the contingency fee under your Freight Audit & Recovery Services Agreement is 30% (Starter), 25% (Growth) or 20% (Scale) of Recovered Amounts instead of 35%. The rate that applies to a claim is the rate in effect on the date FAP identifies the claim in writing; a claim identified while a tier is active keeps that rate after the subscription ends. Claims identified after the subscription ends are at 35%. The monthly fee is not credited against the contingency fee. Any Invoice Health Check credit under Section 2A.5 applies under any plan.

2B.3 Disputes require a signed agreement

The subscription buys screening, reporting and the rate in Section 2B.2. FAP will not contact any carrier, terminal, trucker, forwarder or other billing party, and will not submit any dispute or claim, until you have signed a Freight Audit & Recovery Services Agreement and a Letter of Authorization. Amounts avoided because you short-paid or disputed an invoice FAP flagged are Recovered Amounts under that agreement.

2B.4 Claims and Dispute Advisory

On request, FAP’s founder will advise you, as your own adviser and not as a neutral, on a claim or dispute between you and a forwarder, between forwarders, or between you and an ocean carrier: reading the file, framing the claim, the sequence of correspondence, when to escalate, and what evidence is missing. The fee is 5% of the amount you recover on the advised claim while you are a Guard subscriber and 15% otherwise, invoiced only after the recovery lands with you; if nothing is recovered no fee is due. The advisory is business information from a commercial audit provider. It is not legal advice, not representation, not mediation or arbitration, does not cover customs matters, does not include pursuing payment of debts owed to you by third parties, and FAP never receives or holds funds on your behalf.

2B.5 Term, cancellation and refunds

There is no minimum term. You may cancel at any time through the Stripe customer portal or by emailing us; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing month, and no further fees are charged. Fees for a billing month already started are not refunded; a fee charged after FAP received your cancellation request is refunded within five (5) business days. FAP may end a subscription on thirty (30) days’ notice, and immediately for non-payment, in which case any prepaid fee for the unused period is refunded.

2B.6 Payment, documents and liability

Payment is processed by Stripe, Inc. on behalf of the entity named at the top of these Terms; FAP does not receive or store your card or bank account number. Prices exclude any applicable sales or use tax. Sections 2A.7 (your documents), 2A.8 (no other guarantee; liability, with the limit being the subscription fees paid in the twelve months before the claim), 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11 of these Terms also apply.

3. No legal, customs or financial advice

Content on the Site — including descriptions of regulations such as 46 C.F.R. Part 541, 49 C.F.R. Part 378 and the Ocean Shipping Reform Act — is general business information reflecting our understanding as a commercial audit provider. It is not legal advice, and it may be out of date. We are not a law firm, customs broker, ocean transportation intermediary or freight-payment provider. Consult your own attorney or licensed professional for advice about your situation.

4. Estimates and results

Any calculator, estimate, example, case study or statistic on the Site is illustrative. Recoveries depend on your invoices, contracts and carriers. We do not guarantee that any overcharge will be found or any amount recovered. Past results do not predict future results.

5. Acceptable use

You will not: use the Site for any unlawful purpose; scrape, crawl or copy Site content for redistribution; attempt to access non-public areas or interfere with the Site’s operation; submit false information; or upload malware or other harmful code. We may suspend access for violations.

6. Documents you send us

If you upload or email invoices or other documents before signing a services agreement, you confirm you have the right to share them, and we will treat them as confidential, use them only to evaluate whether we can help you, and delete them on request. We may decline any submission.

7. Intellectual property

The Site, its text, graphics, logos, templates and software are owned by HDC Brands LLC or its licensors and are protected by copyright and trademark law. “FreightAudit Pilot” is our trade name. You may view and print Site pages for your internal business evaluation only.

8. Third-party links

Links to carrier portals, government sites (such as fmc.gov) or other resources are provided for convenience. We do not control and are not responsible for their content.

9. Disclaimer of warranties; limitation of liability

THE SITE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, CARBON GREY VENTURES LLC AND ITS MEMBERS, MANAGERS, EMPLOYEES AND CONTRACTORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS OR DATA, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SITE, AND OUR TOTAL LIABILITY RELATING TO THE SITE WILL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100).

Services provided under a signed agreement are governed by that agreement, not by this Section.

10. Indemnity

You will indemnify and hold us harmless from claims and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from your breach of these Terms or your misuse of the Site.

11. Governing law; venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New Jersey and applicable federal law, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute relating to the Site will be brought exclusively in a state or federal court sitting in New Jersey, and you consent to that jurisdiction and venue.

12. Changes; contact

We may update these Terms by posting a revised version with a new “Last updated” date. Continued use after posting is acceptance. Questions: hello@carbongreylabs.com.