OCTOBER 2024 – Communication is the key to any good relationship, and it’s a big reason why Customer Service Representative (CSR) Tammy Springer and Senior Revenue Account Specialist Brooke Ross work so well together.

Springer helps track and manage inbound barge shipments, storage, and outbound loads at the Decatur River Port in Alabama. Five hundred miles away in Pittsburg, Kansas, Ross uses that data to invoice customers for the services provided in Decatur. Together, they’ve streamlined billing and inventory tracking processes while building a highly effective partnership.

“You talk to people, but sometimes it feels like they aren’t really listening,” said Springer. “You can tell Brooke does, and that’s refreshing. She listens to and understands our needs and the needs of our customers, and then finds ways to get it done.”

Springer has been an early adopter when new features are added to their inventory management system (IMS). Sometimes these new capabilities require troubleshooting to make them work correctly. She knows Ross will help her put in the extra work up front to make the process better down the road.

Decatur is served by barge, rail, and truck, and multiple companies connect with each other there. Typically, the party listed as the consignee on the bill of lading (BOL) is responsible for shipping charges. Springer took the initiative to ensure all this information was added to the IMS correctly, but the CSRs still had to manually review each BOL to confirm who would be billed for the trucking costs. She reached out to Ross, who helped them set up an automated rule to make sure the correct party automatically has charges applied.

“Tammy always goes the extra mile to identify processes that she thinks can be improved,” Ross said. “We work together to make the experience better for the CSR team and our customers. She’s always looking for ways to improve and that makes her great to work with.”

At the end of each month, the terminal sends its customers a summary of their inventory and volume moved. They developed a new, simpler way for our team to feed the correct information into the system, verify emails for customers, and automatically send the updates.

“It used to be manual. It took hours combining documents and verifying email addresses. Brooke knew that we had a CSR going on leave and looked for ways to make our lives easier.” Springer said. “I know she gets busy, especially at the end of the month. We’re not the only terminal she helps, but she takes the time to make it feel like we are.”

Amanda Widmer, manager of Revenue Accounting, agrees technology can make our team’s jobs easier, but working together to utilize it most efficiently is where Ross and Springer really shine.

“Brooke and Tammy deserve a lot of credit for their ability to find ways we can improve,” Widmer said. “They also provide the solutions for those improvements. They really show how important and effective collaboration and communication are for our team.”

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