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Tri-State Motor Transit Success Story

Tri-State Motor Transit, a long-time leader in the transportation industry, meets and exceeds its TOTAL CUSTOMER SATISFACTION goal through the company's strict adherence to ethical, solutions-oriented, team-centered business values. TSMT's quality assurance mission statement, the goal of all associates, is to "attain through an enthusiastic pursuit of excellence that involves our seeking continuous improvement in the process with which we work."

Tri-State Motor Transit was established in 1931 in Joplin, MO. When Mr. Glen Garrett purchased TSMT in 2002, he breathed new life into the company, rebuilding its pride and luster with new equipment, the restoration of terminals to top condition, and growth in fleet size and revenues.

TSMT now employs 473 active drivers and more than 190 non-driving employees. Serving the United States and Canada, TSMT has 18 terminal locations throughout the U.S. and is one of the largest nationwide carriers transporting cargo which requires careful handling due to its explosive or contaminant nature. Tri-State boasts exceptional performance records in both safety and customer service.

Technology Partners

Because Tri-State recognizes the value of communication, technology, and change for growth and profitability, they selected state-of-the-art business partners. The company installed Qualcomm on all tractors for communication with drivers and load tracking, and uses EDI for sharing information with customers and vendors. And Tri-State chose the PaperWise Document Imaging and Workflow Solution to provide the tools to streamline TSMT's office processes.

Streamlining Office Processes

Using PaperWise, the staff digitally scans, imports, stores, and instantly and securely accesses more than six million documents for freight billing, accounts payable, driver payroll, and driver logs. The PaperWise system allows users to retrieve, e-mail, fax or print from a number of databases, eliminating paper handling and boosting productivity.

Prior to the installation of PaperWise, TSMT’s flow of paperwork required seven steps of application and a staff of more than twenty people. The billing process took three to four days. With scanning, rendition billing, and workflow, Tri-State issues freight bills the same day paperwork is received with a staff reduced from twenty to six. And the customer invoices from PaperWise have produced prompt payment, reducing DSO.

Reducing DSO

Like most transportation companies, TSMT found DSO to be a major concern. Tri-State's DSO was 61.2 before PaperWise. With the use of PaperWise to streamline the billing process, Days Sales Outstanding has been reduced from 61.2 days to 33.7 days from the ship date. This 45 percent reduction in DSO has improved cash flow, reduced the cost of doing business, strengthened their financial position in the market, and has enabled management to make decisions which increase company profits and efficiency.

Tri-State generates more than 3,000 freight bills totaling over 6 million dollars in revenue per month. With PaperWise, the DSO has been reduced by 45 percent, the billing staff reduced from 20 to 6, the billing process reduced to same-day service, and productivity increased immeasurably. TSMT and PaperWise -- a partnership producing outstanding results in the transportation industry.