TRISM Introduces PowerTrack Program

KENNESAW, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 9, 1999--

TRISM, Inc., announced today that effective immediately it would begin participation in the Department of Defense's (DoD) PowerTrack(sm) program. PowerTrack is the DoD's Internet-based freight payment and supply chain management service and is the standard method the DoD will use to pay its contracted carriers for the Army, Air Force, National Guard, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), and U.S. Transportation Command.

PowerTrack will help the DoD and over 600 carriers dramatically streamline the process of paying freight bills for 12 million shipments annually. The program will also replace all paper-based and EDI/EFT freight payment processes currently in place. The DoD departments covered by this agreement incur approximately $1 billion in freight expenses annually and will use PowerTrack for most transportation modes including: TL/LTL, express, air freight, and intermodal container.

"Our early and total company-wide participation in the PowerTrack program demonstrates TRISM's commitment to working with our customers to provide solutions to their business challenges," said Paul Newbourne, vice president, marketing for TRISM. "We understand that the DoD will require use of PowerTrack on future business, consequently, we expect that our participation in the program will also favorably position TRISM for increased business opportunities from the DoD."

PowerTrack is an e-business solution introduced by U.S. Bank in April, 1998. It is a completely electronic freight payment service that dramatically reengineers the payment process by totally eliminating all manual, paper-based steps. Shippers and carriers who use the PowerTrack service realize significant administrative cost savings and have access to detailed shipment information across all trading partners, throughout the system's advanced web-based reporting capabilities.

"This is a prime example of government partnering with business and applying commercial best practices to the federal government," said Dr. John Hamre, Deputy Security of Defense. "By adopting PowerTrack as our standard, we'll achieve our goals in the areas of process improvement, paperwork reduction, and cost control."

"We are very pleased that TRISM has chosen to come on board with the PowerTrack service," added Rick Langer, vice president of business development for U.S. Bank's Interactive Commerce Group. "TRISM has proven themselves over and over again as an innovator in the use of technology that is designed to better serve their supply chain partners while enhancing their operational efficiencies. PowerTrack is yet another competitive benefit TRISM can now offer its customers."

Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), with $76 billion in assets, is the 14th largest bank holding company in the nation and operates approximately 1,000 banking offices in the Midwest and West. The company provides comprehensive banking, trust, investment and payment systems products and services to consumers, businesses and institutions. It operates a network of 5,300 ATMs and provides 24-hour, seven-days a week telephone customer service. The company offers full-service brokerage services at approximately 104 offices in the West and Midwest through U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray, the 11th largest brokerage in the nation. The company is the largest provider of Visa corporate and purchasing cards in the world, and one of the largest providers of corporate trust services in the nation. For more information, please see the U.S. Bancorp web site at www.usbank.com.

Headquartered in Kennesaw, Ga., TRISM, Inc. specializes in providing a variety of transportation and logistics services for shippers of oversized commodities and secured materials. Its operating divisions include TRISM Specialized Transportation, TRISM Secured Transportation, and TRISM Logistics Services.

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