The VitalFactors™ page features a comprehensive dashboard that highlights the most important factors of your shipping performance. We call these VitalFactors™ because they play a critical role in achieving cost savings and enhancement in your shipping strategies.
From your home screen, click on VitalFactors™. You can select the specific carrier data you wish to view, whether it's a single carrier or a combined overview if you have multiple carriers. Additionally, you can customize the date range using the filter bar on the right side of the page.
We have identified VitalFactors™ that significantly impact your overall shipping expenses. These factors are detailed below.
-
Service Spend
The Service Spend card illustrates the fluctuations in your service expenses over a specific period of time. It provides a breakdown of Spend by Service and presents a graphical representation of your service spending trends Over Time.
-
Surcharge Spend
The Surcharge Spend card showcases the changes in your surcharge expenses over a specific period of time. The Spend by Surcharge chart presents a breakdown of all the surcharges incurred and what's impacting you the most. While the Over Time graph displays the trend in your surcharge spend.
-
Avg Cost / Package
The Average Cost / Package card demonstrates the variations in your average cost per package over a specific period of time. It displays the Average Cost Per Package by Service and an Over Time graph of the average cost per package periodically.
-
Weight
The Weight card examines how dimensional weight affects your shipments. It presents the number of shipments per service level that use Dimensional Weight and also shows the percentage of packages using Dimensional Weight Over Time. Additionally, this tab includes a graph that displays the Weight Distribution of your shipments.
-
Minimums
The Minimums card highlights how many of your shipments reach the minimum charge (price floor) and its negative financial impact. It provides information on packages hitting the minimum charge per service, either by package count or net spend. Moreover, it displays the percentage of packages hitting the minimum Over Time.
-
Avg Zone
The Average Zone card shows the average zone shipped across all shipments. A lower zone implies a lower cost per shipment. In this tab, you'll find a Heat Map that visualizes the package destination and origin points, which can be filtered by service type. Additionally, this tab includes a graphical representation of Spend per Zone information and Spend per Country information (for international shipments).
-
Carrier Performance (On Time Performance)
On-Time Performance (OTP) measures a carrier's performance against its promised service levels, comparing the expected delivery time to the actual delivery time. It assesses the punctuality of services, asking "Did my shipment arrive on time?" The service levels, such as next day, 2 day, and ground, have specific time commitments defined by each carrier. The cost of shipping correlates with the service level, with faster services (like next day) being more expensive and slower services (like ground) being less expensive.
The Performance by Service bar graph shows the percentage of on time packages by service level. Determining if a package is on time depends on the service level and is why this graph is broken out that way. Once you hover over the bar itself, it will show the percentage of packages shipped on time.
While the Over Time line chart shows the average OTP over time. Without selecting specific service levels, it will average the OTP of all service levels. This is helpful for customers to see if carriers are getting better at meeting the service level expectations or if things are getting worse over time. It also allows for a side by side comparison of OTP by carrier.
-
Avg Transit time (Time in Transit)
Transit Time measures the total time it takes for a shipment to be delivered from pickup to delivery, including weekends and non-business days. The calculation starts from the first business day after pickup and ends at the delivery day. For example, if a package is shipped on Thursday and delivered on Tuesday, the transit time would be 5 days, counting Friday to Monday as 1-4 days, and including Tuesday as the delivery day in the calculation.
The Average Transit Time by Service bar graph shows by service level, the average transit time (delivery minus shipment date). This is a quick and easy way for customers to see how long each service level is taking on average to deliver. 
While the Over Time line chart shows the average on time in transit over time. Without selecting specific service levels, it will average the time in transit of all service levels. This is helpful for customers to see if carriers are getting quicker or if things are getting slower over time. It also allows for a side by side comparison of transit time by carrier. 