Introduction
S.A.A. Logistics, Inc. is a third-party logistics firm with more than 100 years of industry experience. Based in Hauppauge, New York, S.A.A. Logistics handles all types of freight within the continental United States and Canada, providing full-service trucking, warehousing and distribution, expediting, and heavy hauling and rigging services to customers.
When it came to monitoring shipments, S.A.A. felt like they were flying blind. They had encountered several instances of cargo theft and fraud—which have both been rising exponentially across the logistics industry—and they wanted to put a stop to it. They knew real-time tracking technology was out there, but in July of 2024, an incident occurred that made the need even more urgent.
An expensive load of high-value perfume was stolen by a trusted, regular driver at one of S.A.A.’s carriers. This driver moved the same load—in the same lane—every single week. But one week, instead of moving $1.5 million of perfume out mid week, the driver picked it up on a Friday, drove the truck to his girlfriend’s house in the Bronx, and parked it out front. The next morning, the cargo was gone.
According to Dayna Harap, Vice President of Sales at S.A.A., “The carrier was not in cahoots with the driver, and the owner was completely disgusted that one of his employees could do something like this.”
S.A.A. eventually received a tip that the truck had been located in New Jersey, but the cargo was never located—and the driver had fled the country and vanished. “Before Tive, we relied on either the carriers’ ELD or whatever tracking tools were in the trucks. That obviously needed to stop, and this incident proved the point,” said Harap.
Tive Customer Service Sealed the Deal
S.A.A. started doing research into real-time visibility solutions, and learned about Tive from one of their carriers. Said Harap, “I told him I needed a way to stay one step ahead of fraud, and he told me about Tive.” Harap did her due diligence with Tive’s competitors, and ultimately chose Tive because her account manager was patient, available to answer any and all questions, and provided her with the space she needed to make the decision that best suited S.A.A.
Said Harap, “Our account manager’s patience helped seal the deal for me. He was ‘Johnny on the spot,’ answered all my many questions, and was not obnoxious about it. I am in sales myself, and I don’t like obnoxious salespeople. Our account manager didn’t hover. He didn’t push. He understood why we took so long to decide; it was because we were worried about losing the perfume account because of that load being stolen.”
Harap and her team originally ordered 25 Tive Solo 5G trackers, and estimated that they would use 100 in a year. Tive added so much value that Harap ordered 100 additional devices after the first four weeks alone. “For us, using Tive to track shipments gives us a huge return on investment. If you were to look at how much business I’m getting from offering this benefit to customers? It’s a no-brainer,” said Harap.
Improving Customer Communication & Confidence
Knowledge is power—for S.A.A Logistics and for their customers. Knowing where your cargo is, and what state it is in, provides immense peace of mind for everyone involved. Harap shares a Tive shipment link with customers, and one simple click is all it takes to check the status of the cargo. At first, Harap’s customers weren’t very interested in using Tive, but once they saw the power of the product—and how easy the platform is to use—they were hooked.
SAA currently offers Tive at no cost to clients with loads worth more than one million dollars. Said Harap, “We developed a new internal SOP for Tive, specifying what the requirements are. For any shipment over a million dollars, there needs to be a Tive tracker on that shipment—regardless of how long or short the route is. That way, we can always see where it is—and we can keep it safe.”
For some extremely high-value customers, SAA also uses Tive’s 24/7 Monitoring team. When S.A.A. shuts down for the night, Tive takes over—so Harap and her team can sleep in peace.
“Tive helps us demonstrate that we are completely transparent with our customers—that we’re not hiding any information from them. We share all shipment data via the Tive platform, they get the updates, and everyone has full visibility into what’s going on,” stated Harap.
Thwarting Theft & Eliminating Fraud
Theft and fraud have become the scourge of the supply chain—and it’s only getting worse. Harap and her team see so much fraud: stealing carrier MC numbers, rate confirmations, diversions to other warehouses, and much more. And when that happens? Someone else is getting paid for that load.
One S.A.A. customer runs only dedicated loads, so whether they give S.A.A. ten pounds of cargo to ship or 10,000 pounds, that cargo will be the only thing in that truck. This customer pays to ensure complete truck exclusivity—but greedy drivers have other plans in mind.
According to Harap, these ill-intentioned drivers see the empty space and decide to secretly add other cargo into the truck. “This completely compromises my shipments,” said Harap. “Throwing additional freight onto my trucks causes damage, but with Tive light alerts, the proof is in the pudding—because the light sensor captures that data and tells me when truck doors have been opened.”
Harap continued, “When you’re paying for an exclusive vehicle for only one shipment, and the driver sees that there’s room in the truck they can use to make some extra money? They’re double dipping—but that doesn’t happen with Tive.”
Peace of Mind: For S.A.A. & Their Customers Alike
Imagine not having to worry about the status of your shipments: that’s how Harap and her team feel since they started using Tive. But they didn’t expect it to be so impactful on their day-to-day lives. “Tive allows us to sleep at night because we’re not constantly worrying about our cargo,” said Harap.
Recently, one load triggered alerts during the weekend. The truck had been idling for more than two hours, which violated the SOP that S.A.A. has in place. Harap got the alerts, and quickly sent an email to her operations lead to ask if he could tell what was going on—and to ask him to contact the drivers.
According to Harap, “The truck was apparently way ahead of schedule, so they stopped to shower and have a meal. Per our SOP, one driver has to stay in the vehicle while the other goes to do their thing—and then they swap out.” Her operations lead reported that he was watching the shipment, and was able to reassure the customer that everything was ok.
How would Harap convince other transportation companies to use Tive? “That’s easy,” she said. “I’d simply ask them: ‘Have you been a victim of cargo theft or fraud? If so, I have a simple solution for you, and I am living proof of how it has helped us protect cargo and save business.’”
An added bonus? Tive also helps S.A.A. offer a high level of service that often isn’t provided by larger transportation companies—so it helps bring in new business, as well.
