Web provides fast personal property rates

Translog: Journal of Military Transportation Management, March-April, 2002 by Leesha Saunders Galery

The World Wide Web, which speeds information flow of all types of data, also makes available the rate postings of personal property carriers.

What used to take a lot of paper and problems with keeping accurate data, is provided in an instant via the Military Traffic Management Command's Web page.

"The Web has brought us into the 21st century," says Hank Spieler, Chief of MTMC's Domestic and International Rates Team.

"We wanted to use the K-I-S-S principle: "Keep it simple, Stupid," said Spieler. "Anyone who knows the basics about computers can access the information from his personal computer. He can then review and print point-to-point domestic and international rates.

"The site, www.mtmc.army.mil, in the personal property section, provides a single Web carrier rate location that is available around the clock. Carriers may take a laptop on vacation to the Bahamas and check their rates to see how they compare with the other carriers."

The Web-based system, that began in 1998, is used daily by Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard personal property offices throughout the world, Carriers can now see and plan for the next rate filing cycle, too. The information is public and does not get pulled for security in an emergency situation such as the terrorist attacks of September 11th. The site only displays the rates submitted by private companies for various lanes of government personal property movements.

Putting rates on the Internet began with a challenge. The 1995 Paperwork Reduction Act, which took effect on Oct. 1, 1995, required federal agencies to reduce their use of paper. MTMC's Personal Property Division, which updated thousands of transportation rates every six months, was specifically impacted. Adding to the paperwork, carriers had to make written request for copies of the rates.

Veteran employees still talk about countless overtime hours when employees manually typed and listed carrier rates for their respective cycles, said Traffic Management Specialist Gail Collier, who currently maintains the program's international rates.

"I still don't know how we managed to do it!" said Spieler.

"The Way We Were"

Paper dominated the old system, said Spieler. MTMC had a "library" that was a large bedroom-sized room filled with black and green three-inch, loose-leaf binders, stacked in six-foot-high bookcases.

Carriers had their own paper process, too, he said. Companies had to wait on the Personal Property Rate Filing System to manually input the rates. Carriers would write Freedom of Information Act request letters to see their competitors' rates. The entire process generated numerous phone calls and mailings from both transportation offices and carrier agents.

Frank Galluzzo, the then Deputy Director of Personal Property, granted Spieler the latitude to pursue the development of his Web-based system ideas. He developed a team with Alex Moreno and information management specialist Cliff Mechalske. By the end of 1998, the team members had developed an on-line working program.

The Web-based system eliminated "monstrous files and computer printouts," said Spieler.

"We no longer have the labor connected with palletizing and sending the hard copy files to the Federal Records Center, in Suitland, Md.," said Spieler.

The Manual Processes Meets Automation

The Web was still new in 1998. A big

By Leesha Saunders Galery Legislative Liaison MTMC Headquarters challenge was orienting transportation carriers to its use, said Spieler.

"We worked with both the American Moving and Storage Association and the Household Goods Freight Forwarders of America, Inc., through the initial presentation and testing of the program" said Spieler. "At each test, we obtained something from the carrier industry--something we would like to see. It turned into a process of improvements that continues today."

In an outreach effort, MTMC made a formal presentation of the program during the command's training symposium in 1999, in Denver, Colo. Carriers learned fast.

"Carriers call us now and say, `Hey, when are they (the rates) going to be on the Web?'" said Spieler. "Carders keep watch and know when to expect the new rates, and they are posted right on time."

The opportunities are endless!

Spieler sees one-year personal property rate cycles replacing the current six-month cycle. In addition, he suggests the current system will keep in step with the future by incorporating new technologies as they become available.

Some small carriers continue to pay companies to file their rates, said Spieler. In the future, he hopes, more carders will become computer literate. The system is so user friendly, smaller carriers may file their own rates directly.