Potomac Metals (PMI), a privately-held, independent scrap metal recycling company, purchases raw scrap metal and processes it at locations throughout Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland, manufacturing new commodities which then get sold to mills.
HIGH-VALUE GOODS Potomac Metals (PMI), a privately-held, independent scrap metal recycling company, was founded in 1997 in Sterling, Virginia. PMI purchases raw scrap metal and processes it at locations throughout Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland, manufacturing new commodities which then get sold to mills, refineries, and end-users around the world. The PMI team is more than 200 strong, and currently operates nine locations in the mid-Atlantic region. Products used : Tive Solo 5G, Premium Platform Tier Sarah Zwilsky, CEO of Potomac Metals, says that before Tive, her team spent a lot of time making check calls and trying to find shipments. “If a load didn’t arrive, we’d call and follow up, or a mill would reach out to us. But if things came up, I had no insight into how long it took dispatch to report it to us.” In late 2024, a $200,000 shipment of copper was stolen, and PMI was able to monitor the shipment as it drove 400 miles past its intended destination. Armed with Tive, PMI was able to recover the complete load within a few hours. “We would be totally out of luck without Tive.” Zwilsky and her team became interested in real-time tracking after an expensive shipment was stolen. Not only does Zwilsky believe that Tive is an effective and affordable solution, but she was also attracted to the thought of using light alerts to expose potential cargo theft events. Tive sent Zwilsky a sample tracker, the PMI team attached it to a shipment, and they sat back and watched. Says Zwilsky, “We attached the tracker to a truck that was going locally, closed the doors, and sent it out to a mill. Our team then used the Tive cloud platform to watch as the truck moved down the road— and it was amazing to be able to watch it happen in real time.” PMI initially wanted to use Tive to monitor only their highest- value item: copper wire. But by the end of that first test shipment, the team realized that Tive was going to help establish them as a leader in their marketplace, and they started using it on their five most-expensive products. Says Zwilsky, “We track really valuable products. If a load doesn't get to its delivery location, we’re held in limbo waiting for it to arrive. Before Tive, we didn’t know where shipments were. Tive has really legitimized our business.” She continued, “Because I track all shipments in the Tive platform, I find out what’s going on before anybody else—and I am able to reach out to our broker or dispatch and say, ‘call your driver to find out how long this is going to take, or figure out where this material is, or find out if the driver has been in an accident.’” With Tive, PMI is able to set expectations with their customers—and consistently deliver. Says Zwilsky, “People can move on with their day armed with concrete knowledge of when their shipments will arrive. They’re not just sitting around waiting—and I spend less time chasing down loads. There is huge value in that.” “Tive has made Potomac Metals significantly more efficient because now I know when something has gone wrong— and I find out before anybody else.” “I didn't fully realize just how much Tive would help us. Not just in terms of cargo theft, but on the back end when it came to tracking and locating shipments that hadn’t yet been delivered.” “It is definitely worth spending a small amount of money to save a $200,000 shipment. I give Tive a 10, and rave about them to anyone who will listen.” “A lot of scrap yards in the industry are really behind the times when it comes to technology. But if I’m able to tell a mill that their load is an hour away—and it shows up in an hour? Not many companies can do that.” SARAH ZWILSKY CEO of Potomac Metals tive.com/customer-stories Peace of mind at every mile. POTOMAC METALS