DOD Will Not Drop Billing Plan

Despite complaints primarily from munitions haulers, the Department of Defense is moving forward with a plan to use a third-party electronic freight payment system to compensate freight carriers.

At a symposium in Denver last week, officials from the Military Traffic Management Command told carriers that participation in U.S. Bank’s PowerTrack billing system will be mandatory on all future military hauling contracts.

A DOD spokeswoman said the new billing procedure is expected to speed up payments — paying carriers in three days vs. 60 days or more — and could eventually eliminate all Government Bill of Lading forms.

Some motor carriers argue, however, that they should not be forced to pay a fee to U.S. Bank for hauling military freight (3-8, p. 1).

After meeting with a group of disgruntled carriers on March 24, American Trucking Associations said it would challenge implementation of the billing plan.

“MTMC promises participating carriers a three-day payment schedule, but the procedures set forth by the agency indicate that actual payments could take 30 days or more,” said ATA Deputy General Counsel Kenneth Siegel.

“In addition, many carriers already have made investments in an electronic funds transfer plan offered by MTMC in which payments are made in five days at no additional cost to the carriers,” he said.

For the full story, see the April 5 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.