Tribe Transportation Grows Fleet And Speeds Up Cash Flow

February 21, 2019

Fleet Snapshot

Headquarters: Gainesville, Georgia
Implementation Start: November 1, 2017
Fleet Size: 400, growing to 500

The Problem

Screen Shot 2019-04-30 at 11.05.52 AM.png — Decrease in average DSO

As a high-end, high-security transporter of pharmaceuticals, fresh foods and other fragile cargo, Georgia’s Tribe Transportation doesn’t take any chances with load tracking and delivery. That’s why, in late 2017, the company turned to Vector’s mobile app to overhaul its old in-cab document scanning process.

Tribe’s previous system revolved around a USB cable-connected handheld scanner, which often broke or produced unclear images of trip documents on the road. “At the time when we first implemented it, it was cutting edge,” Tribe Vice President of Transportation Todd Gooch recalls. Over time, though, the costs of buying replacement scanners and downtime from paperwork delays made it clear that a new solution was in order.

The Solution

Screen Shot 2019-04-30 at 11.06.05 AM.png — No new accounting and payment staff hired during fleet expansion from 400 to 500 vehicles

Gooch and his team at Tribe first saw a Vector demo at Trimble’s annual in.sight conference. The process of scanning documents with a smartphone instead of clunky hardware at first seemed almost too simple to work, but soon after starting implementation in November 2017, Gooch says the results were clear. “The image quality is amazing,” he says. “The reliability is 100% better than what we were getting with the old scanners we used.” Close coordination and personal attention from the Vector team helped make the rollout a success.

“It was probably the smoothest implementation I’ve done,” Gooch says. Since then, Tribe has measured an average seven-day decrease in DSO, or accounts receivable turnover. “We’re able to get our bills of lading in, we’re able to invoice quicker, which speeds up our cash flow,” Gooch says. That’s really the game changer for us.”

In addition to retaining a staff of just five payment and accounting staffers while the company grows its fleet from 400 to 500 vehicles, the back office also saves time thanks to smooth integrations, like automatically adding trip documents to invoices through TMW. Driver communication has improved and driver pay has sped up with the app. “We use it today for everything from trailer damages to various receipts to any number of things,” Gooch said. “I like the fact that it is pretty customizable to anything you want to see.”