Introduction
RKC Logistics, an Armstrong Transport Group agency led by owner Ryan Suydam, was founded in 2016 and has carved out a unique niche in the world of job-site deliveries. Specializing in freight headed to arenas, schools, churches, music venues, and major sports stadiums, Suydam and his team handle everything from bleacher seating and basketball apparatuses to flooring—and even tens of thousands of stadium cup holders. The work is complex, involving manufacturers, dealers, job-site teams, and tight installation schedules, all of which leave zero room for delivery surprises.
Despite the sophistication of the work, RKC Logistics operates with the humility and grit of a determined underdog. As Suydam puts it, “We’re a smaller operation always looking for ways to differentiate in a space full of 3PLs and independent agents.” This desire to stand apart—by providing better visibility, communication, and reliability—ultimately led him to Tive.
Traditional tracking tools couldn’t keep up with customer demands. Cell-phone tracking frequently failed, carrier systems were often dropped mid-journey, and visibility gaps caused costly delays for job-site crews. “The struggle for us has always been finding reliable tracking,” Suydam explained. “I needed something that would put tracking in my control.”
Perfecting High-Stakes Job-Site Deliveries
For RKC, late or missed deliveries don’t just inconvenience customers, they have the potential to decimate project budgets. A single late truck can trigger surprise costs for labor, boom lift rentals, and overnight accommodations, adding to unplanned expenses. Suydam summed it up bluntly: “Using Tive trackers on high-value shipments just makes sense. I can guarantee that if something's showing up late, you don’t have to dispatch your labor crew and be out thousands of dollars in last-minute labor and equipment adjustments.”
Because those customer impacts ultimately become service issues for him, Suydam began looking for a more reliable solution. After participating in a webinar with Tive founder Krenar Komoni, the benefits crystallized. Tive’s real-time tracking—not dependent on driver apps, carrier portals, or cellular permissions—finally gave RKC the clarity they’d been missing.
The first major test was a cross-continent shipment from Maine to Alaska, where the freight first needed to meet a vessel in British Columbia. “I could see the shipment all the way across the country,” Suydam said. What began as a trial quickly became a new standard operating procedure for RKC, and it also piqued customer interest.
From Proof of Concept to Game-Changing Growth
Tive didn’t just help RKC improve operations; the solution grew to become a powerful sales tool. That first cross-continent trial led directly to new business when a manufacturer saw the tracking and requested test devices for their own incoming shipment. “This Tive tracker turned into a new customer for me, and it ultimately may turn one of my customers into a direct Tive customer,” Suydam shared. “That’s the cool thing about Tive. It doesn’t just improve operations, it creates opportunities.”
RKC Logistics now equips every over-the-road and rail shipment with a Tive device for their customer BT Mancini, a Santa Clara-based company shipping high-value materials across the country. Rail visibility, in particular, proved revolutionary. “Being able to track freight on rail is a complete game changer,” Suydam explained. “If we see it’s running behind and we have a tight delivery, my customers don’t dispatch their labor crews unnecessarily, which has the potential to save thousands of dollars.”
Suydam has steadily expanded his use of Tive, sometimes absorbing the cost for some customers as he demonstrates the value. “Seeing it in action makes all the difference,” he said. “If you move high-value cargo, having complete visibility—from pickup to delivery—is a no-brainer.”
Delivering Efficiency, Collaboration & Peace of Mind
For Suydam and his team, Tive has eliminated hours of manual tracking, check-ins, and weekend monitoring. “It’s helped us be much more efficient. Instead of chasing updates on every load, we can see everything in real time in the Tive platform,” he noted.
Tive has also helped fundamentally shift how RKC Logistics communicates and collaborates with its customers. The first time BT Mancini used Tive to ship Team loads from Maine to Northern California, the weekend would normally have been consumed by status checks. But not this time. “We just shared the link to the shipment, and they were able to watch it move using the platform,” Suydam said. “It saves everyone time.”
Suydam wants RKC customers to feel empowered, not dependent. He frequently hears reactions like, “I didn’t realize I could track it this closely!” That excitement has helped shorten sales cycles and has also opened doors with new manufacturers, dealers, and decision makers. “Including Tive on shipments completely changes our traditional sales steps, and speeds up the process,” he explained.
Setting RKC Logistics Apart & What Comes Next
Tive has become a key differentiator for RKC Logistics, not only in operations but also in brand perception. Suydam actively markets the technology, especially to customers who have experienced the pain of late deliveries and job-site frustrations. “It sets you apart when you're speaking to the right audience,” he said. “The people who feel this pain immediately understand why they need Tive.”
Unexpected benefits continue to appear. Tive’s light alerts have enabled Suydam to catch unauthorized co-loads on partial truck shipments in real time, a capability he described as “amazing.” And geofencing has helped him identify route deviations early enough to prevent both losses and misunderstandings.
But perhaps the most powerful transformation is the confidence boost. “I don’t know how we did it before solutions like Tive,” Suydam reflected. “We were shipping blind back then.” Now, visibility isn't just a service: it's a strategic advantage that helps his small agency compete with much larger players.
Looking ahead, Suydam views Tive as a key component of RKC Logistics’ growth trajectory. “It’s game-changing, and it sells itself,” he said simply. And in a business where every mile matters, confidence is everything.
