PowerTrack use soars for MTMC freight shipments. (GBLs plummet).The use of Government Bills of Lading for Department of Defense freight shipments has been slashed. Contract documents have plummeted as the Military Traffic Management Command A major command of the US Army, and the US Transportation Command's component command responsible for designated continental United States land transportation as well as common-user water terminal and traffic management service to deploy, employ, sustain, and redeploy US forces on a has mandated the use of USBank's PowerTrack automated software across the spectrum of its freight shipments. Most freight delivered by motor carrier, ship, barge, railroad or pipeline must use PowerTrack to receive a contract to carry MTMC MTMC Military Traffic Management Command (US DoD) MTMC Mount Marty College MTMC Micros-to-Mainframes, Inc. (stock symbol) MTMC Middle Tennessee Medical Center (Murfreesboro, TN) freight. Currently, one of the few exceptions is for personal property carriers. The increasing use of the automated payment software has cut DoD Government Bill of Lading A document signed by a carrier (a transporter of goods) or the carrier's representative and issued to a consignor (the shipper of goods) that evidences the receipt of goods for shipment to a specified designation and person. use by 97 percent for the year 2000--from 65,000 to 2,000. The use of GBLs is widely unpopular. Commercial carriers complain the government-unique documents require extra time and labor. "This is a huge success story," said Tom Hicks
Some 479 carriers are now eligible to receive PowerTrack payments, said Hicks Hicks , Edward 1780-1849. American painter of primitive works, notably The Peaceable Kingdom, of which nearly 100 versions exist. . In excess of $335 million in freight charges have been paid in 2000, he said. "Eighty-five percent of the payments were made in three days," said Hicks. For the accelerated payment, USBank charges carriers a fee on a sliding scale slid·ing scale n. A scale in which indicated prices, taxes, or wages vary in accordance with another factor, as wages with the cost-of-living index or medical charges with a patient's income. , up to two percent of the freight bill. In the past, commercial carriers would wait 30 to 90 days to be paid via the manual payment process of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), an agency of the United States Department of Defense, provides finance and accounting services for the military and other members of defense. In FY 2004, DFAS:
The successful implementation of the program is a result of MTMC's partnership with industry, said Hicks. "We got out our message repeatedly," said Hicks. "We involved carriers and had industry meetings and lots of publicity." Carriers now eligible for PowerTrack include many members of the National Tank Truck Carriers, Inc., of Alexandria, Va. The association has 200 members, ranging from firms with a few vehicles to several thousand, said Clifford Harvison Clifford Walter Harvison (March 26, 1902 – February 12, 1968) served as the 12th Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, from April 1, 1960 to October 31, 1963. References
Harvison helped get PowerTrack information to members of his trade association. "PowerTrack is known to those who have to know," said Harvison, who has served as the organization's chief executive since 1972. Many bulk carriers specialize in such non-military loads as food concentrates or chemicals, he said. What is the carrier reaction to PowerTrack? "The jury is still out," said Harvison. "They are getting their money more quickly, but less of it." Harvison said he used association newsletters and e-mail to get the word out to his members. When he had questions, he called MTMC contacts such as Hicks for answers. What is next in the use of PowerTrack? Hicks said he will increase the use of PowerTrack to additional MTMC carriers. These groups include break bulk cargo That which is generally shipped in volume where the transportation conveyance is the only external container; such as liquids, ore, or grain. ocean carriers and inbound container transporters. The adoption of PowerTrack is part of Management Reform Memorandum #15, a Department of Defense initiative to use electronic systems to automate and standardize military processes with the commercial world. |
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