When a package arrives late, your customer doesn’t care whether it was due to weather, a mechanical delay, a customs hold, or something else. All they know is that it didn’t arrive on time.
Carriers report this differently. They often exclude delayed shipments from their on-time stats if they believe the delay was “excusable.” So, while your customer feels the impact of a late delivery, your carrier may say it doesn’t count.
That disconnect is why many companies are surprised when their own performance metrics—customer feedback, SLA (Service Level Agreement) compliance, or internal reporting—don’t line up with the carrier’s numbers.
Why the Numbers Don’t Always Add Up
Carriers like UPS and FedEx frequently claim on-time performance rates above 98%. But if you're fielding complaints or noticing recurring delays, you're not imagining things.
Here’s what’s happening:
Carriers scrub their data. They remove late deliveries from their reported stats if they believe the cause was outside their control—things like:
Weather delays
Operational issues
Mechanical failures
Customs holds
And more
From the carrier’s point of view, those shipments are "excused" and shouldn’t count against their performance. But from your customer’s point of view? Late is still late.
Gross vs. Net On-Time: Seeing the Full Picture
That’s why the Carrier Performance Report in your Lojistic account shows your gross on-time rate. This is the full picture—every shipment, every delay—regardless of the reason code. It reflects the real experience your customers had, not just the polished version your carrier presents.
That said, we also make it easy to calculate the net on-time rate, similar to what your carrier would report.
At the bottom of the Lojistic Carrier Performance Report, you’ll see a breakdown of delay reasons. Most late shipments are tagged with a code like “Weather,” “Operational Delay,” or “Customs.” These are considered excusable, and carriers remove them from their performance stats.
The only category they don’t excuse is “Misc / Not Provided.”
That’s the bucket for late shipments with no stated reason, so carriers treat those as their true late deliveries.
Using Lojistic’s Carrier Performance Report, here’s a formula that will likely closely match the carrier’s reported number:
Carrier Reported On-Time % = 1 – (Misc / Not Provided ÷ Total Packages)
In the example above, you’ll see that the gross on-time rate for all service levels was 89.4%, and the net on-time rate was 98% (what the carrier would likely report).
This allows you to view on-time delivery from both the carrier’s and customer’s perspective.
Why It Matters
You’re not tracking on-time performance just to hold a carrier accountable. You’re doing it to understand what your customers are experiencing.
By seeing the full picture:
· You can spot patterns and problem areas before they escalate
· You’ll understand which service levels or carriers might be underperforming
· You can protect customer satisfaction and improve retention
And when you need to negotiate or raise concerns with your carrier, you’ll have the data to back it up.
Need help interpreting your Carrier Performance Report?
Our team’s here to help walk you through it, just CONTACT US.
Author
Bryan Van Suchtelen
Bryan Van Suchtelen
Corporate Director of Rate Services
With more than 34 years of parcel experience, Bryan Van Suchtelen is the Corporate Director of Rate Services at Lojistic, one of the nation’s top logistics and transportation cost management companies.
Prior to joining Lojistic in 2015, Bryan enjoyed a 26-year career with UPS where his roles included Pricing, Field Sales and Director-level Sales Management of some of UPS’s largest customers.
At Lojistic, Bryan leverages his wealth of experience/expertise to identify and execute supply chain cost management solutions for parcel shippers of all sizes. Bryan has helped his customers reduce their shipping spend by tens of millions of dollars.