Customer Success Story: The Court Ruled, And We Saved Our Client Cash
One day in February, the Bestway accounts team said to a particular client: Where can we serve you better?
The insight gained in that meeting was so valuable. The team members who had been involved – the quote team, the compliance team, the sales rep and the vice president – took copious notes and started developing strategies to bring the client even greater value.
But they had no idea how quickly the opportunity would come to make good on their commitment.
In February 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) did not authorize the president to impose a variety of tariffs that had been in place. That ruling created a four-day window – from February 24-27 – in which the shipments manifested would not be subjected to the tariffs.
The Bestway team quickly recognized that this presented an important but time-limited opportunity for the client in question to save considerable money.
“There were only certain customers that would fit into that window,” says Kelli Adkins, manager of key accounts at Bestway. “I was watching this client because it was mine, and the shipment was being manifested into Los Angeles between 2/24 and 2/27. If they could do customs clearance at exactly the right time, it would save them the tariff charge.”
Armed with that insight, the Bestway team carefully reviewed the shipment coming in and made sure the clearance was conducted within that four-day window.
“We were able to save the company from paying a certain bracket of tariffs, which amounted to $38,000 based on the value of the goods they were bringing in,” Adkins says.
Of course, many in the industry knew about the ruling and the impact on tariffs, but not every company was well-positioned to take advantage of such a development for its clients’ sake.
“I think a larger company that has each piece of the move siloed – so there’s nobody looking at the big picture – could very well miss this,” Adkins says. “At Bestway there’s one person looking at your move from start to finish. So when we realized this arrival was happening between the 24th and the 27th, we saw that we had an opportunity to save them a bunch of money by doing our job in the right strategic timeframe. I don’t know if some of these larger companies would even notice because they’re just handing it off to the next person.”
Bestway enjoys the opportunity to prove how much we care for our customers. We’re always glad we ask.
