GOVERNMENT BILLS OF LADING USE NEARLY HISTORY AT MTMC

GOVERNMENT BILLS OF LADING USE NEARLY HISTORY AT MTMC    The U.S. Military Traffic Management Command has watched the use of government bills of lading by private-sector transportation providers decrease 97 percent, or from 65,000 to 2,000, during the past year.
   The agency, which manages the overland and ocean transportation logistics of Defense Department cargo, attributes the decrease to its use of USBank’s PowerTrack to pay for carrier services.
   About 480 carriers, mostly in the trucking industry, receive freight payments through PowerTrack. More than $335 million in freight bills were paid through the automated system, and 85 pecent of these payments were made in three days, said Tom Hicks, coordinator at MTMC.
   In the past, commercial carriers waited 30 to 60 days to be paid via the manual payment process of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.
   “The use of GBLs (government bills of lading) is widely unpopular,” MTMC said. “Commercial carriers complain the government-unique documents require extra time and labor.”
   Hicks said he will increase the use of PowerTrack to other types of MTMC carriers, such as breakbulk ocean carriers and inbound container transporters.