Analytics, KPIs & Performance
Glossary
OTIF, cost per mile, tender acceptance ratio, and beyond. Define the logistics KPIs and performance metrics that matter most to shippers.
Carbon Footprint / Emissions Tracking
See Full Definition ->The measurement and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions generated by freight transportation - increasingly required by customers, investors, and regulators, and calculated based on mode, distance, fuel type, and load efficiency.
Carrier Performance Management
See Full Definition ->The ongoing process of measuring, evaluating, and improving carrier service quality through data-driven scorecards, regular reviews, and accountability mechanisms tied to routing guide position and contract awards.
Carrier Scorecard
See Full Definition ->A standardized report that grades carrier performance across key metrics - on-time delivery, claims ratio, tender acceptance, and cost - to support routing decisions and contract negotiations.
Claims Ratio
See Full Definition ->The percentage of shipments resulting in a freight claim for loss, damage, or shortage - a carrier quality metric that reflects handling care, equipment condition, and overall service reliability.
Cost Per Mile
See Full Definition ->The total freight cost of a shipment divided by the miles traveled - the standard unit-cost benchmark for comparing carrier rates, evaluating lane economics, and tracking rate trends over time.
Cost Per Pound / Cost Per Pallet
See Full Definition ->Unit-cost metrics that express freight spend relative to shipment weight or pallet count - essential for CPG and food & beverage shippers who need to tie transportation cost back to product economics.
Dwell Time
See Full Definition ->The total time a truck spends at a facility from arrival to departure - encompassing check-in, waiting, loading or unloading, and checkout - a key measure of facility efficiency and a major driver of detention costs.
Freight Budget vs. Actual
See Full Definition ->The comparison of planned transportation spend against actual freight costs incurred - the fundamental financial control metric for logistics teams managing to a budget and explaining variances to finance.
Freight KPIs
See Full Definition ->The set of key performance indicators - including on-time delivery, cost per shipment, tender acceptance rate, and claims ratio - used to measure and manage transportation operations against business objectives.
Freight Spend Analytics
See Full Definition ->The systematic tracking and analysis of all transportation costs - by carrier, lane, mode, customer, and time period - to identify savings opportunities, validate budgets, and support strategic logistics decisions.
Lane Analysis / Lane Performance
See Full Definition ->The evaluation of freight performance - cost, transit time, carrier reliability, and volume - on specific origin-destination pairs, used to optimize routing, negotiate rates, and identify underperforming corridors.
Network Analysis / Network Optimization
See Full Definition ->The strategic evaluation and redesign of a shipper's distribution network - warehouse locations, lane structures, mode mix, and carrier allocation - to minimize total logistics cost while meeting service requirements.
On-Time Delivery (OTD)
See Full Definition ->The percentage of shipments delivered within the agreed-upon delivery window, serving as the most fundamental measure of carrier reliability and logistics execution quality.
On-Time Pickup
See Full Definition ->The percentage of shipments picked up by the carrier within the scheduled pickup window - an early-warning metric that directly influences downstream delivery performance.
OTIF (On-Time In-Full)
See Full Definition ->A composite metric measuring the percentage of shipments delivered both on time and with the complete ordered quantity, widely used as the gold standard for supply chain execution performance.
Predictive Freight Analytics
See Full Definition ->The use of historical shipment data, market signals, and statistical models to forecast future freight costs, capacity conditions, and operational patterns - enabling proactive logistics planning rather than reactive decision-making.
Supply Chain Dashboard
See Full Definition ->A centralized, visual interface that consolidates real-time shipment status, carrier performance metrics, cost data, and exception alerts into a single operational view for logistics teams and executives.
Tender Acceptance Rate
See Full Definition ->The percentage of load tenders a carrier accepts versus the total number offered - a key indicator of routing guide health, carrier commitment reliability, and capacity risk on a given lane.
Transit Time Analysis
See Full Definition ->The measurement and evaluation of actual door-to-door freight transit times against committed service standards - used to assess carrier reliability, validate routing decisions, and identify lanes with inconsistent performance.
Transportation Spend as % of Revenue
See Full Definition ->The ratio of total transportation costs to company revenue - the executive-level benchmark that contextualizes freight spend relative to business scale and signals whether logistics costs are growing faster than the business.
