520 tolling company agrees to pay unpaid bills owed to mail courier

Champion Transfer Co., a mail-courier service in Bellevue, made more than $4,000 worth of deliveries around the Puget Sound area earlier this year for a Texas-based tolling company working on the Highway 520 system.

Karen Harless, the local company's retired owner, said she sent invoices and made about 15 calls to the Washington State Department of Transportation and the company, Electronic Transaction Consultants, without success.

"It just irritates me. I would never not pay a bill," she said. "I just don't treat people like that."

On Friday, the tolling company — already on the hook with the state for millions in fines for missing deadlines on the Highway 520 project — called Harless and said she'd have a $4,151 check on Monday.

That call came after The Seattle Times called the company to ask about the unpaid bill.

Electronic Transaction Consultants (ETC) thanked the newspaper for bringing the matter to its attention. Spokeswoman Carla Kienast said she can't provide further details because it's an internal financial issue.

Champion Transfer started delivering mail and packages for ETC in February, was never paid, then stopped handling ETC business in May, Harless said.

Her drivers made daily postal and parcel deliveries serving ETC's customer-service offices in Seattle's University District. Some loads went to ETC in Gig Harbor, just west of the Tacoma Narrows tolled suspension bridge, or to an Auburn trucking center for Safeway, which sells state DOT "Good to Go" transponders to motorists, invoices say.

Harless says she and her husband sold the business in May, and about $700 more is owed to their successors. She guessed Friday the $4,151 might go to her granddaughter's college-savings account.

ETC is a toll-industry giant that says it handles one-third of the country's transactions, using the latest technologies.

Most tollway drivers in Washington state, and some other regions, sail through at highway speed — instead of stopping to pay cash at a booth. Overhead devices subtract funds from the driver's prepaid debit account, via a chip on the car windshield.

Tolling on the 520 bridge was supposed to begin in mid-April, but the state now predicts August or later.

State officials have accused the firm of understaffing the project, as well as having software problems.

ETC has agreed to $2 million in penalties, plus $300,000 a week in the event of delays beyond July 9, the state announced.

Reporting in Courier Software

The quality of a courier company will always depend the on the quality and capabilities of its courier software. One courier company offering better package delivery software than another will certainly obtain greater customer satisfaction, and accordingly, more business and clientele. While there are many important features to be sought out in package delivery software, such as capabilities to allow ordering online, tracking shipments, and address verification, one of the most important features is the reporting functionality that can generate various types of reports from the information it collects about a certain courier company. So what exactly are these reports saying about their company?

There are many types of reports that you can receive from package delivery software with a reporting ability. However, you should be aware that some courier softwares have better reporting features than other courier softwares. Additionally, there are many courier companies who wish to use third party reporting programs to get certain readings on various elements within their business structure. Because of this, it is important for courier companies to make sure that their software is compatible with other, different software that has reporting functionality that may be being used by the company.

One kind of report that can be determined for courier businesses is called a performance analysis report. This report can generally tell courier companies how efficient they are being in their overall performance. Additionally, sale records and reports of revenue can also be gleaned from most dispatch software with report ordering. This can give you an idea of the company's financial standing. Also, another report that can be made by courier companies is information on accounts receivable. This feature is required by most courier companies.

Finally, the most important report to many courier companies is that of custom reports. In fact, this is not only the case in the courier industry, but in most every industry. As it turns out, most people who own businesses believe that they find company statistics and information to be vital pieces of information from which they can learn from and hope to improve their company. Regardless of the company or field of work, having custom reports allows for a company to understand the way in which it is functioning.

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