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E-Transport Newsletter |
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Spring, 2006 |
Volume 3, Number 1 |
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*************** SPRING 2006 -
Our spring meeting in If the joint meeting
of our groups was not exciting enough, we also will be visiting Congress on
Tuesday to personally express our thoughts on two very important topics that
directly affect our industry: Preferences in
Bankruptcy – A. Reclamation Rights B. Trade Vendors Administrative Authority Leases – A. Commercial Real Property Extra Protection This is your
chance to get face to face with the political leaders that can have a
positive influence on our industry, so don’t miss the opportunity to express
your views. While all work and no
play is not good, NACM, along with our associates
sponsorship, has set up a “Monument Tour” for our group Sunday evening, just
after registration. If you have never
seen
As your chairman, I
can say that I am extremely optimistic about not only our upcoming meeting
but also for the continued growth and development of TRMG. This group continues to grow in
membership, but we have also developed a solid approach in the resolution of
tough issues through our round table discussions and specific presentations
by our internal membership, as well as professional speakers in that
particular area of interest. The huge
benefits we have gained to date far outweigh the price we pay to attend these
meetings. I would like to encourage
each of you to assist your board in passing the word to other prospective
members. The more data and best
practices we can share, the more efficient we all become. Hope to see you in Your Chairman, Ron Pagoota Southeastern Freight
Lines, Inc. 1-803-939-3294 rpagoota@sefl.com National
Transportation Revenue
Management Group Phone: (281) 228-6100 Fax: (281) 228-6122 nacm@nacmsouthtexas.org We’re on the Web! www.nacmsouthtexas.org ©NACM Houston, 2004 |
News from Transportation Revenue Management Group ******************************
A couple of years ago, a congressman told our Houston
group that one constituent who bothers to come to Washington, make an
appointment and sit down with his staff is “worth a hundred thousand at
home.” Why? Because clearly you care. A lot.
Passion about issues that matter to you impresses legislators,
and your issues are very important to your companies. Let’s go make a difference. Things to know before you go: ·
We will provide briefings and “leave
behinds,” so you don’t have to sweat what you will say and how they will
remember. ·
We will provide experienced credit managers
to help you through the first meetings in legislative offices. Once you “get the hang of it,” we’ll have a
hard time getting between you and your message. Promise! ·
Business dress is appropriate….but SHOES
matter most of all! Capitol Hill =
much walking, so dress your feet accordingly. ·
We’ll be providing lunch in a Senate or
House of Representatives cafeteria, so you’ll have plenty of energy! ·
If you have time between appointments, ask
in either the Senate or House (or both) offices for Gallery Passes. These will allow you to go sit above “the
Floor” in the Capitol building and watch the action below. If they’re in session, you may see debate,
speeches or even a vote. ·
This is fun and easy and very meaningful
for you as a citizen and for your company.
Enjoy it, and make a difference. Register today…hotel reservations
have to be made by March 23rd! BENCHMARKING
SURVEY IN THIRD YEAR! Thanks to
everyone who has already participated!
This information can be an invaluable resource for you to check your
company’s performance against the industry. This year, we
have expanded the survey to allow comparisons of key elements across
transportation modes – truck, rail & air, as well as key indicators from
3PLs! Results will ONLY be shared with participating companies, so be sure to log on and fill out the simple survey today if you haven’t already: Take me to the survey!
Use
Consumer Credit Reports? Equifax, Experian and TransUnion Roll Out
New Joint Credit Score (March 14, 2006)
The new VantageScore leverages the
collective experience of the industry's leading experts on credit data,
scoring and analytics. Under the new scoring system, credit score variance
between credit reporting companies will be attributed to data differences
within each of the three consumer credit files and not to the structure of
the scoring model or data interpretation. By combining cutting-edge, patent-pending analytic techniques with a
highly intuitive scale for scoring, VantageScore
will provide consumers and businesses with a highly predictive, consistent
score that is easy to understand and apply. VantageScore
uses score ranges from 501 to 990. Consumers and credit grantors alike will
recognize the logical score groupings that approximate the familiar academic
scale: 901-990 – A VantageScore is being
independently marketed and sold separately through each of the three national
credit reporting companies via licensing agreements with VantageScore
Solutions, LLC. VantageScore is commercially
available beginning today. ******************************************************************************** E-mails And Instant
Messages Count As Records Too Patterson pointed to such cases as the one that happened to Morgan Stanley last year. In that case, the company couldn't guarantee that it had turned over every message related to a pending suit and promptly got hit with a multi-billion dollar fine. She pointed out that companies must do two things regarding their electronic communications. First, they must design appropriate records retention policies to fit their appropriate industry type: each industry is subject to specific records retention regulations. And secondly, she said companies should have a system in place that can easily identify and retrieve records that have been archived. Once formal policies on electronic archiving are in place, Patterson said they must be enforced consistently—across the board. She recounted an example of a 2004 civil suit involving alleged gender discrimination in a termination of employment. When the plaintiff's attorney requested specific electronic communications the plaintiff knew were there, they could not be found because an employee had destroyed them, against the company's policy. That misstep by a company employee, in violation of company policy regarding electronic document retention, caused it to lose the civil suit and also have discovery costs levied against it. "The courts are coming down hard on organizations for not adhering to their own policies," Patterson said. Each type of company, depending upon the industry it is in, and the various regulations it is subjected to, must design appropriate electronic records retention policies, Patterson said. "You need to decide what constitutes a record, and what you should be retaining, and for how long." She cautioned against relying just on backups of server files, noting that, "they're just a snapshot… backups were not meant as an archive." She said trying to sift through backup files instead of properly archived files, in order to find files you need, can be very costly: "The numbers are absolutely huge." The retrieval of a file from a backup may cost an average of $2.20 per page, versus about 25 cents per page from a properly designed archive," she said. Once a record is recorded on a computer or server hard drive, it is harder to dispose of than many people may realize. Also, disposing of files against company policies may be detected by using the proper techniques. Phillip Rodokanakis, Managing Partner of U.S. Data Forensics, LLC said, "The operating system maintains a database of the times and dates documents were deleted." As for the deleted files themselves, Rodokanakis said, "We find information that is stored on temporary file folders that has been there for months and even years." It is important that company
officials know what electronic records they must keep and for how long, and
design policies that implement the proper archiving of them. Failing to do so
could be a costly mistake, as some companies have already discovered.
Thanks for all your work! 2005-2006
Chairman: Ron Pagoota, Southeastern Freight Lines Associate
At Large:
Karolyn Rubin, Bonded Collections
Be sure to register TODAY for the Spring Conference! Hotel cut-off for reservations is March 23rd! |
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Got your walking shoes
ready?