AKRON, Ohio - March 22, 2000 - Roadway Express, Inc. (Nasdaq: ROAD), one of the nation's largest motor carriers, announced today that it was selected as the recipient of the prestigious Hammer Award from
the federal government. The award was presented at a ceremony in Laredo, TX, which is the largest port of export in the U.S. Bob Carr, vice president, international and Sandra Scott, international trade and customs advocate for Roadway, accepted the award on behalf of the
Company and its employees in the U.S., Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, MX facilities, who made a considerable effort to make the Automated Export Service (AES) project successful. Joe Rees, Ombudsman for the U.S. Customs Service, presented the award.
Roadway won the Hammer Award for its innovative work with government agencies and the Association of Laredo Forwarding Agents to improve the effectiveness of AES, which tracks shipments crossing the Mexican border. AES creates a standard electronic format for exchanging transportation and commodity information. This reduce paperwork, eliminating the Shipper Export Declaration (SED). It also reduces errors in data entry and creates a more timely flow of information and helps keep shippers informed about the status of their freight as it crosses the border through Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) via AES.
"We are honored to receive this prestigious recognition," said Bob Carr, Roadway vice president, international. "Roadway saw an opportunity, and provided the leadership to form a private-public partnership to address an issue in a high-quality, highly efficient manner. We value the Hammer Award as a testament to our commitment to being an industry leader. AES has helped us provide even better service to our customers because we can now provide real-time status of their shipments while crossing the border, as well as delivery time and billing information. It is a total tracking system that no other carrier currently offers."
Vice President Al Gore developed the Hammer Award to highlight success stories in government reinvention to make the public sector more efficient and responsive than in the past, when government agencies paid up to $400 for a simple hammer. Fittingly, the award consists of a $6 hammer, ribbon and note from Vice President Gore, all in an aluminum frame.
The award honors teams comprised of federal employees, state and local employees, and citizens who have made significant contributions to reducing costs, creating efficiencies and helping to reinvent government. These teams have demonstrated innovative processes or
programs that have had an impact on customer service, bottom-line results and exemplary problem solving.
What truly makes this group outstanding is their dedication to the implementation of a new and efficient way of collecting data electronically. Due to the work of this team, electronic filings increased by 9300% in a two-year period. In December 1997, AES volume at the port of Laredo was 239 records for the month. In December 1999,
the AES volume at Laredo was 22,619 records. This move from paper-based SEDs to electronic filing saved taxpayers thousands of dollars, and greatly sped the shipment crossing process.
Roadway set up meetings and brought resources from the Association of Laredo Forwarding Agents, U.S. Customs Service and the Census Bureau together to improve AES beginning in November 1998. The Association acts as the service center and provides the computer link between the
Forwarding Agents and the government. Roadway, as a pilot carrier, and its customers are directly linked to the service center.
The collaboration was a result of each parties' role in the movement of shipments to Mexico. These shipments involve freight transfers where there were potential delays due to SED forms not being filed. There were also risks for lost or damaged documentation. Additionally, the excessive usage of printed paper was making the handling of merchandise expensive, and such expenses have a negative impact on business and customs authorities.
The AES system was initially developed by the U.S. Customs in conjunction with the Bureau of Census to electronically capture export data. Roadway played a pivotal role in the outreach toward the Association of Laredo Forwarding Agents. Together with the Association
they promoted the use of AES as the preferred method of capturing export data. Working with the service center, Roadway has been able to obtain shipment status information directly from U.S. Customs via EDI. As a result, exporters utilizing Roadway can better manage the arrival of goods at the border and reduce costs associated with unwarranted delays. Laredo's conversion to AES is now on the fast track, something that was considered impossible less than two years ago.
The benefits derived from reducing the amount of paper that must be created and processed in order to comply with statistical reporting requirements is apparent. The AES system has editing features that will virtually eliminate errors, as well as the need for extensive handling of paper documentation that contributes to increased cost and
possible freight delays. It provides Customs with data that is accurate and timely enough to allow more accurate reporting. It provides for better enforcement by Customs of licensable and other types of exportations, through more complete, timely and accurate data.
