New ReMA Member Spotlight: Arthur

Cargo theft and supply chain crime costs an estimated $35 billion a year, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Most of it now happens through identity fraud, fictitious pickups, and impersonation. The tools that exist today verify the company, not the driver and the truck that show up in the yard. New ReMA member Arthur adds a verification layer when the truck is at the dock, and a driver is ready to load.

ReMA News spoke with Cassandra Rommel, Co-Founder and CTO of Arthur, about the company's goals and mission, the decision to join ReMA, and where she sees cargo theft in the recycled materials industry moving forward in the next few years.

Tell me about yourself and the company. What are its goals and mission?

Co-founder Kelly Koskelin and I met at a company called Samsara, which focuses on the logistics industry making ELD products. Kelly was the VP of Infrastructure and oversaw our security teams. I worked on the AI dash camera product. After Samsara, we talked about what company we wanted to start, and we were both drawn to security.

Cargo theft is a huge problem, one that's increased by 1,500 percent over the last three years. We know the logistics industry digitized fast, moving from pen and paper to one largely done online in about 10 years. It happened without some of the common security measures that other industries enjoy, and fraudsters have picked up on this.

Arthur verifies driver identity and truck information at the point of pickup so when a driver shows up at your yard, you can verify they are who they should be in the truck they should be in. It takes about 60 seconds and works through a text link, with no app to install and no driver or carrier signup required.

How did you learn about ReMA and how did you decide to join?

The recycled materials industry runs in my family. My grandfather started a recycling facility outside of the LA area that my uncle now runs.

ReMA is a go-to resource for people in the industry. We've been doing a lot of fraud research and now we're live with our first customers. We know how hard this industry has been hit. We've talked to a few yard operators and one of the things we consistently heard is that logistics costs are going to drive your margins. So, having a tight handle on your logistics is important.

What are you excited about being a ReMA member?

We are looking forward to meeting more ReMA members and helping recyclers solve their security problems. It's a fascinating industry. There are a lot of high value loads and a lot going on in a facility at any time. We're excited to help recyclers get a handle on this problem.

What are your short-term and long-term goals for the company?

In the short term, we want to build an amazing product. We're currently in the early stages. We're looking for customers who are excited about giving good feedback and helping us build a product that will work for their workflow. In the long term, I want us to grow to be something that helps recyclers secure every hand-off point, not just pick up but at delivery and any time your material is changing hands. We want to not only help keep the material secure but also make sure your logistics are compliant and provide better data about what's going on with your materials.

Cargo theft is a huge problem in the recycled materials industry. Where do you see this issue moving in the next several years?

I can only speak to what I know. When it comes to theft, I think the recycled materials industry will need to adopt some tools. It could be our products or others, but if that doesn't happen then you'll likely see these thefts accelerate. When you think about who is committing this fraud, they aren't random or opportunistic; they are very strategic. Once they have the mechanism that works on you, then they'll keep drilling at it until you are able to close the loop. We hope we can provide tools to help close that loop.

Photo by Tom Jackson on Unsplash.

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