When Data Stops Being a Report – and Starts Changing How You Work: A Success Story with Saia Freight

For a long time, travel and expense systems have lived quietly in the background. Essential, but not necessarily strategic. Many organizations implement them, trust they’ll keep running, and move on – even as the business around them grows more complex.

In a recent episode of SAP Concur Conversations, host and Global Vice President of Customer Advisory Jeanne Dion sat down with Ed Hebert, Director of Finance Operations and Strategic Projects at Saia LTL Freight, to explore how Saia’s approach to travel and expense evolved from a tactical process into a strategic storytelling engine.

At Saia, the mindset began to shift as leaders started asking a different set of questions. Not just what the data showed, but why certain patterns kept appearing, and what those patterns revealed about how work was actually getting done.

Over nearly three decades at Saia, Ed has had a rare vantage point. Starting as a high school intern and now serving as Director of Finance Operations and Strategic Projects, he’s watched the organization grow from a regional network into a nationwide operation spanning 48 states and more than 15,000 employees.

“Certainly, some growth during that time. My 28 years with Saia, I represent just a small chapter in Saia’s century long legacy, but if I'm reflecting on the evolution over my tenure, I'd say that Saia’s culture and its people have had really the most profound influence on my approach to leadership and service today.”

You can listen to this episode on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite place to find podcasts.

Looking Beyond the Surface of Growth

As Saia expanded, Ed’s cross-functional experience gave him a unique advantage. Rather than focusing only on outcomes, he paid close attention to how processes evolved over time – and how decisions were being made across the organization.

“While many in similar roles often focus on what they've learned about other functions,” Ed shared, “I found greater value in understanding the how processes and how analysis and metrics have evolved to their current state.”

Growth has a way of magnifying inefficiencies that once went unnoticed, especially in systems that touch nearly every part of the business. Travel and expense was no exception.

Instead of treating T&E as a static operational system, Ed and his team leaned in. They listened closely to stakeholders across functions, examined how work was really getting done, and looked for recurring patterns in the data. Often, the most valuable insights came from the people closest to the work.

“The closer you can get to the work,” Ed said, “the better it is for understanding that some of the best ideas come out from the people closest to it.”

That curiosity laid the groundwork for change.

When Data Becomes a Story

Saia had no shortage of travel and expense data. But data alone wasn’t the differentiator.

“Data in its raw form is simply a resource,” Ed explained. “The true value lies in bringing that to life and transforming it into actionable insights that resonate with the stakeholders.”

The shift came when the team began using data not just to analyze behavior, but to tell stories. Stories that created context, sparked curiosity, and aligned people around action.

“That transformation is not just about a technical exercise,” Ed said. “it's also a craft of being able to harness all of that and effectively tell a story behind the data, and that requires both analytical rigor and creative vision.”

By framing insights around what mattered most to each audience – travelers, approvers, finance teams, and leaders – T&E data became a strategic tool rather than a reporting obligation.

As Jeanne Dion put it, “what you're doing really is you're showing patterns, right? You're showing how you can link those patterns to maybe some sort of habits or behaviors that maybe need some solutioning – and then linking that data to the strategic priority”

Those stories led the team to ask sharper questions:

• Where are patterns repeating?
• Where is behavior drifting from intent or policy?
• Where is friction quietly slowing people down?

One of those questions led to a revealing discovery.

During a routine operational review, Saia uncovered a reconciliation process tied to its central travel account that was consuming far more time than expected. One team member was spending three to five full workdays every month reconciling transactions to ensure expenses were accurately allocated across business units.

Over a year, that totaled roughly 42 workdays dedicated to a single administrative task.

Behind the scenes, that effort created pressure during month-end close, strained a small but critical team, and limited time available for higher-value work.

By partnering with SAP Concur Consultative Intelligence, Saia analyzed the process in detail and automated key components. The result wasn’t just efficiency – it was a fundamental shift in how time and talent were used.

“That translated into reclaiming approximately 42 days annually to concentrate on critical functions.” Ed shared.

Just as importantly, it reduced burnout.

“It really just can't always be about how many dollars and cents you have to look at it holistically” Ed emphasized. “Those team members hold an immense knowledge. So, if you're not taking care of them, that burnout happens, you run the risk of losing a lot of knowledge.”

Creating Curiosity and Accountability

As Saia continued surfacing insights from its T&E data, leaders began to see the power of looking beyond isolated transactions.

Broader trends revealed inconsistencies between systems, unexpected spending patterns, and opportunities to course-correct early. Presented with the right context, the data sparked curiosity rather than resistance.

“It's easy to fall into patterns of reviewing isolated snapshots,” Ed explained, “However, when you present someone with broader trends and contextual analysis, it shifts the entire perspective.”

Embedding insights directly into the tools leaders already used made those insights harder to overlook and easier to act on.

As Jeanne noted, “You need to really embed insights where people already are. You need to bring them that information so they can make the right decisions to keep that living organism alive and thriving for as long as possible.”

A Mindset of Continuous Evolution

Despite how far Saia has come, Ed is clear that the work is never finished.

“If you have that set it in, forget it mentality, sometimes you have to ask yourself, why am I buying the premium version of a product to help us with this if you're not going to make it work for you continuously?” he said.

For Saia, travel and expense is no longer a background system. It’s a strategic asset – one that helps leaders see clearly, act intentionally, and support the people who keep the business moving forward.

The Takeaways

Saia’s journey shows that using T&E data strategically isn’t about dashboards alone – it’s about mindset. Their approach highlights three principles any organization can apply:

1. Start with curiosity, not conclusions.

The most powerful insights come from asking why patterns exist, not just tracking what happened.

2. Turn data into stories that drive action.

Data creates impact when it’s framed around stakeholder priorities and connected directly to decisions.

3. Design systems that evolve with the business.

Growth demands continuous review of policies, processes, and technology to avoid friction and burnout.

Saia’s experience proves that when data is used intentionally – and shared in the right context – travel and expense can become a powerful driver of alignment, efficiency, and smarter decision-making.

🎧 Listen to Ed’s full conversation on SAP Concur Conversations to hear how Saia is using curiosity, data, and storytelling to turn travel and expense into a strategic asset.