About Us | Direct Recovery Solutions

We Exist to Return
What’s Rightfully Yours

Direct Recovery Solutions was built on a simple conviction: businesses work too hard for their money to have it silently drained by carrier billing errors, marketplace discrepancies, and unclaimed refunds. We built the team, the tools, and the process to get it back — at zero risk to you.

Professional business team collaborating in a modern office
2008
Founded
$2.4M+
Recovered for clients
1,200+
Businesses served
18+
Years of expertise
98%
Client success rate
$0
Upfront cost — ever
Shipping containers at port — origin of the DRS story
Where it started A single client. A single overlooked invoice. A $47,000 recovery.

Born From a Problem
Every Shipper Has

Direct Recovery Solutions was founded in 2008 by a team of logistics and finance professionals who noticed something troubling: the businesses they worked with were consistently being overcharged by carriers and marketplaces — sometimes by thousands of dollars per month — and almost no one was doing anything about it.

The problem wasn’t negligence. It was complexity. Carrier invoices contain hundreds of line items per billing cycle. Marketplace settlement reports run for dozens of pages. Claim windows are short, documentation requirements are strict, and the carriers themselves have no incentive to proactively flag their own errors.

“We filed our first claim for a client in 2008 and recovered $47,000 they didn’t know they were owed. That moment defined everything we’ve built since.”

We started with a small team focused exclusively on parcel carrier auditing. Over the following years, as e-commerce exploded and marketplace billing became increasingly complex, we expanded into Amazon FBA reimbursements, freight auditing, customs duty recovery, and contract compliance — building a full-service recovery practice that serves businesses of every size and industry.

Today, Direct Recovery Solutions has recovered over $2.4 million for more than 1,200 businesses across the United States. We’ve never charged a client a dollar upfront, and we never will. Our model is simple: if we don’t recover, we don’t earn.

The Principles That
Guide Every Recovery

Everything we do — every audit, every claim, every client conversation — is shaped by these five commitments.

💯

Performance-Only Accountability

We earn nothing unless you recover something. This isn’t just a pricing model — it’s a statement of confidence in our work. If we don’t deliver results, we don’t deserve to be paid.

🔍

Relentless Thoroughness

We don’t stop at the obvious errors. Our audits go line by line, shipment by shipment, across every billing cycle. We assume every invoice contains a recoverable error until we can prove otherwise.

🤝

Radical Transparency

We tell you exactly what we found, what we filed, what was approved, and what was denied. No vague summaries, no hidden activity. You see the same data we see.

🛡

Carrier Relationship Integrity

We never pursue claims that aren’t legitimately owed to you, and we never use tactics that could damage your carrier or marketplace relationships. Recovery should never come at the cost of your business continuity.

📈

Long-Term Client Value

Our goal isn’t to run one audit and move on. We build ongoing relationships that deliver continuous recovery — catching new errors every billing cycle and evolving with your business as it grows.

🌐

Breadth Without Compromise

We cover more carriers, marketplaces, and claim types than any competitor — and we go deep on every one of them. Breadth of service should never mean shallowness of expertise.

Built Different From
the Ground Up

Most recovery services are side products of larger logistics firms. DRS was built with one purpose: maximizing your recovery. That singular focus shapes everything about how we operate.

🧠

Proprietary Audit Technology

Our software ingests and validates carrier invoices against contracted rates, carrier tariffs, and zone tables in real time — catching errors that manual review would miss in thousands of line items.

👁

Human Expert Oversight on Every Audit

Automation finds the patterns. Our specialists verify the nuance. Every flagged discrepancy is reviewed by a human before a claim is filed — ensuring accuracy and maximizing approval rates.

📡

Real-Time Recovery Dashboard

You never have to wonder where your claims stand. Our client portal shows every claim filed, every approval, every credit, and every pending item — updated in real time, accessible 24/7.

🔁

Set-and-Forget Ongoing Monitoring

Overcharges don’t happen once. They happen every billing cycle. Our continuous monitoring model means your account is reviewed automatically, every period, without you lifting a finger.

🤝

Dedicated Named Account Manager

You’re never handed to a call center or a ticket queue. Every client has a named account manager who knows their business, answers questions directly, and advocates for their recoveries internally.

Business team reviewing analytics and audit data on screens

The Specialists Behind
Every Recovery

Our team combines deep expertise in logistics, finance, e-commerce operations, and customs compliance — all focused on one goal: maximizing what you recover.

Professional headshot of CEO

James Whitfield

Founder & CEO

18 years in logistics consulting. Former Director of Transportation at a Fortune 500 retailer. Founded DRS after discovering systemic carrier billing errors that went unaddressed industry-wide.

Professional headshot of COO

Sandra Okafor

Chief Operating Officer

Former Amazon seller operations lead with over a decade of FBA and marketplace experience. Oversees the full audit pipeline and client onboarding process at DRS.

Professional headshot of Head of Carrier Auditing

Marcus Chen

Head of Carrier Auditing

Ex-UPS billing analyst with insider knowledge of how carrier invoicing systems work — and where they break down. Leads DRS’s parcel and freight audit practice.

Professional headshot of Director of Customs Recovery

Patricia Vargas

Director of Customs Recovery

Licensed Customs Broker with 14 years of experience in import duty management, HTS classification, and duty drawback programs across North America and the EU.

How We’ve Grown
Over 18 Years

From a two-person operation filing parcel claims to a full-service recovery firm trusted by over 1,200 businesses nationwide.

2008

Founded

DRS launched with two employees and a single focus: parcel carrier invoice auditing for small and mid-size businesses in the southeastern United States.

2011

Freight Audit Launch

Expanded into LTL and FTL freight invoice auditing as client demand revealed massive overcharge rates in freight billing across multiple carriers.

2014

First 100 Clients

Reached 100 active clients and opened our second office. Launched the real-time client recovery dashboard — giving businesses live visibility into their claims for the first time.

2017

Amazon FBA Reimbursements

As Amazon FBA grew, so did billing discrepancies. We built a dedicated Amazon reimbursement practice — now one of our highest-recovery service lines.

2020

Customs & Duty Recovery

Launched our customs and import duty recovery practice in response to growing trade complexity and client demand, partnering with a network of licensed customs brokers nationwide.

2023

Proprietary Audit Platform

Released our second-generation audit platform, capable of processing millions of shipment records per day and integrating directly with all major carrier and marketplace APIs.

2026

$2.4M+ Recovered & Growing

Serving over 1,200 businesses nationwide across every industry and shipping volume — and continuing to expand our services to cover every dollar businesses are owed.

How We Operate on
Every Client Engagement

We’ve refined our process over 18 years and hundreds of thousands of claims. This is how we ensure nothing is missed and every recovery is maximized.

01

Rapid Onboarding — Under 15 Minutes

We’ve deliberately engineered our onboarding to be friction-free. Share your carrier invoices or grant read-only API access, and we handle everything from there. No IT involvement, no lengthy contracts.

02

Full-Scope Initial Audit

We begin with a comprehensive historical audit — reviewing the maximum lookback window allowed by each carrier and platform. This typically covers 12–18 months and forms the baseline for ongoing monitoring.

03

Claim Filing Within Guarantee Windows

Many refund claims — particularly late delivery refunds — must be filed within days of the shipment date. Our monitoring runs daily to ensure no eligible claim expires before it’s filed.

04

Persistent Carrier Follow-Up

Carriers don’t always approve claims on first submission. We respond to denials, supply additional documentation, and escalate through internal carrier channels when we believe a denial is unjustified.

05

Transparent Reporting & Settlement

Every recovery is reported in real time through your client dashboard. When credits or payments are confirmed, we invoice our performance fee on the recovered amount — no surprises, no hidden charges.

06

Continuous Monitoring — Every Billing Cycle

After the initial audit, we monitor every new invoice automatically. You don’t need to re-engage or re-authorize anything. Recovery simply continues in the background, indefinitely.

Business analyst reviewing audit data and logistics reports on a computer

What You Can Always
Expect From DRS

We’ve served over 1,200 businesses since 2008 and our model has never changed. No upfront fees. No retainers. No billing unless we deliver results. That commitment is written into every client agreement we sign.

We don’t pursue claims that aren’t legitimately owed. We don’t use aggressive tactics that put your carrier relationships at risk. And we don’t disappear after the first audit — we stay engaged, continue monitoring, and keep recovering on your behalf as long as you’re with us.

Our promise is simple: we treat your money like it’s our money. Because under our model, it kind of is.

💰

Zero Upfront Cost — Always

No setup fees, no retainers, no monthly charges. You pay nothing until and unless we put money back in your account.

📊

Full Transparency on Every Claim

You see every claim we file, every approval, every denial, and every recovery — in real time, through your dedicated client portal.

🛡

Your Relationships Stay Intact

We operate within carrier and marketplace policies on every engagement. No aggressive tactics, no account risk, no service disruption.

🔁

Continuous Recovery, Not One-Time

We monitor every billing cycle automatically. Recovery doesn’t stop after the initial audit — it continues as long as you’re a client.

👤

A Real Person Responsible for Your Account

You’ll always have a named account manager — not a support queue. Someone who knows your account and answers when you call.

Recognition & Memberships

🏆
Top Logistics Audit Firm 2024
Inc. 5000 — Fastest Growing
🎖
CSCMP Member
BBB Accredited Business
🌐
NCBFAA Associate Member

We Know Every Platform
We Audit

Our team includes former carrier employees, marketplace operations specialists, and licensed customs brokers — people who’ve worked inside the systems we now audit.

Ready to Work With a Team
That Gets Results?

Start with a free, no-obligation claim review. We’ll identify your biggest recovery opportunities and tell you exactly what to expect — before we begin.

No upfront cost · Performance fees only · Results in 2–4 weeks