CUSTOMER STORIES
"Out of four trucks stolen that night, from four different companies, we were the only one that recovered our load—and that is because we were the only ones using Tive."
- Mike Sordi, co-owner, Southeast Recycling Group
Before implementing real-time tracking, Southeast Recycling Group (SRG) had no shipment visibility, which left them exposed to increasingly sophisticated instances of cargo theft. According to Mike Sordi, co-owner of SRG, “We weren’t tracking shipments, and that was the problem. We thought it couldn’t happen to us—until it did.” After two stolen loads, neither of which was fully recoverable through insurance, SRG realized that traditional safeguards weren’t enough. Fine print insurance exclusions such as “voluntary parting of cargo” left them financially vulnerable, forcing an operational shift toward proactive risk mitigation. Sordi continued, “This is an epidemic in our industry. A lot of people check IDs and numbers, but you don't know until an insurance claim gets denied that you're not covered.”
“We ordered 50 Solo 5G trackers, and now we’re using about 75 per month.”
SRG adopted Tive quickly, deploying trackers at scale across high-value copper shipments without a prolonged trial period. After speaking with Tive, SRG made the decision to buy 50 Solo 5G trackers, and currently uses 75 a month to monitor their high-value shipments. Unlike alternatives such as basic Bluetooth trackers, Tive’s real-time location and condition visibility—coupled with an extremely hands-on onboarding process—stood out to the team at SRG. The ability to monitor shipments live, and get hands-on help from day one, drove rapid adoption across the organization.
With Tive, SRG has been able to switch from reactive loss management to active theft intervention. “The whole reason we found out that a recent load was stolen was because of Tive. The platform alerted us that the cargo was moving west—but the truck was supposed to be heading east,” reported Sordi. “It turns out that the cargo had been transloaded onto a different truck.” SRG tracked this stolen load across multiple states overnight, coordinating in real time with brokers and law enforcement. The result: a successful recovery and arrest. “Out of four trucks stolen that night, from four different companies, we were the only one that recovered our load—and that is because we were the only ones using Tive.”
“Tive is the first line of defense. I’d recommend it to anyone shipping high-value goods.”
Beyond theft prevention, Tive has helped SRG strengthen internal processes, improve accountability, and even reduce insurance costs. “We’ve had our insurance rates lowered because of everything we’re doing, including tracking shipments with Tive.” Today, SRG uses Tive on all third-party shipments, and has complete confidence that high-value cargo is protected at every stage. For SRG, visibility isn’t just a competitive advantage—it’s a necessity.
The financial impact of real-time shipment visibility was immediately clear to SRG. Had they not had a Tive tracker on that stolen shipment, it is unlikely insurance would have protected them. SRG’s ability to track and respond in real time prevented a six-figure loss, demonstrating clear ROI in a single shipment. The metals recycling industry is fraught with instances of cargo theft, but Sordi believes Tive can help change that. “We shouldn't be bragging about two months without a theft,” he said. “It should be two years, three years without a theft. The volume of cargo theft in our industry is huge, but solutions like this can help drive those numbers down.”
