JM Longyear is one of the Upper Peninsula's most established integrated forest products companies, with roots stretching back over 150 years. Operating across timberland ownership, northern hardwoods manufacturing, and medical devices, Longyear manages a complex field operation that includes dozens of independent truck drivers hauling timber across the region. As Sr. Manager of Business Systems, Jason Povey led the search for a modern e-ticketing platform that could hold up under real-world conditions — and connect seamlessly to enterprise systems downstream.
After a year-long pilot with a legacy forestry management platform, JM Longyear found itself stuck. Persistent bugs and technical issues prevented the rollout from ever growing beyond a pilot group of ten truck drivers. Support requests fed into a bureaucratic online portal with resolution timelines stretching two to six weeks — completely unworkable for an active logging operation. Meanwhile, the drivers themselves — many of them independent contractors working for multiple companies in the region — were frustrated and resistant to adoption. Longyear needed a platform their field crews would actually use.
Longyear conducted a rigorous evaluation of Waldo before committing — pressure testing master data and transactional loads end to end. The result: zero bugs, zero missing functionality. Waldo's implementation team provided hands-on, interactive onboarding tailored to a user pool that is often averse to new technology. ERP integration was straightforward, ensuring an uninterrupted data flow from in-field ticket creation all the way through to A/P payments and A/R collections. Within the contractor community, word had already spread: independent drivers working with other operators in the area came to Longyear proactively recommending Waldo based on their own experience.
Rigorous pre-deployment testing — no bugs, no missing functionality found
Hands-on onboarding built for field users resistant to new technology
Organic driver recommendations from contractors working other operators in the region
Clean, plain-language mobile interface — minimal learning curve in the field
Seamless ERP integration from in-field transaction to A/P and A/R
Direct, responsive customer support — real people, real answers
Successful full-scale rollout — far beyond the 10-driver pilot cap of the previous platform
Uninterrupted field-to-finance data flow integrated with downstream ERP systems
High driver adoption, including independent contractors new to digital ticketing
Support issues resolved directly and promptly — not through a weeks-long ticketing queue
Two things stood out for the Longyear team: the quality of the product itself, and the quality of the people behind it. Waldo's app is built for the people actually using it — truck drivers in the field, not back-office administrators. And when issues arise, Waldo's support team responds like a partner, not a software vendor. For an operation managing a distributed, independent contractor workforce across Michigan's Upper Peninsula, that combination proved decisive.
"The direct customer support provided by Waldo is vastly superior to the competition. We get real answers from real people — not a bureaucratic portal with a 2–6 week resolution window. That's completely unacceptable for a working logging operation, and Waldo understands that."
Jason Povey
Sr. Manager of Business Systems
JM Longyear, Marquette, MI
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