Logistics survey: 14 questions for the people who buy the freight

Two fields first. A score that does not name its lane cannot be acted on.

1. Which lane or service are you answering about?Short textThe lane name your own team uses. It is what lets you cut the results later.
2. How much of your freight moves with this provider?Pick one of 5Exposure, not opinion. A poor score at ninety per cent of your freight is a different problem from the same score at five.

Four items rather than one on-time percentage. A shipment can be punctual and short, or complete and broken.

1. Shipments arrive on or before the date we were promised.Strongly agree to strongly disagreeThe promised date, not the original one. A provider who renegotiates every date then hits it scores well here, which is why question 4 exists.
2. When a delivery date slips, we are told before the date passes, not after.Strongly agree to strongly disagreeWarning before the fact. This separates a provider with a problem from one who hides it.
3. Shipments arrive complete, with the quantities the paperwork says.Strongly agree to strongly disagreeShortages surface days later at the receiving end, so this often scores worse than on-time.
4. Goods arrive undamaged and packed the way the lane requires.Strongly agree to strongly disagreeDamage on a rough lane is a packing decision as much as a handling one.

Visibility as two things: what the system tells you unprompted, and what a person tells you when it is not enough.

1. Tracking tells us where a shipment is without us having to ask.Strongly agree to strongly disagreeTracking that exists but needs a phone call to interpret is a disagreement here.
2. When something goes wrong, we hear it from them before we hear it from our customer.Strongly agree to strongly disagreeThe most expensive failure in the set. Hearing about your own late shipment from your customer costs the relationship, not the freight.

Every provider has exceptions. What happens next is where most of the difference between providers sits.

1. We reach somebody who can actually resolve the issue, not only log it.Strongly agree to strongly disagreeResolve, not log. Low scores usually mean the account contact has no authority.
2. Claims and disputes are settled in a timeframe we can plan around.Strongly agree to strongly disagreeA timeframe you can plan around beats a fast one you cannot predict.

Billing is where a good operational score and an unhappy customer most often coexist.

1. The invoice matches the quote, with no charges we cannot account for.Strongly agree to strongly disagreeCharges that were never quoted are the usual cause of a low score here.
2. Which of these has cost you the most in the last quarter?Tick all that applyTick all: a shipper hit by three failures should not have to pick one. "Nothing significant" sits first so a clean quarter costs a single tap.

One open answer, then one rating. A rating asked before somebody names what they would change is a mood reading.

1. What would you change first about how this provider works with you?Long textOne change, not a list. That constraint is what makes forty answers rankable.
2. Overall, how well is this provider serving you?Pick one of 5The one number this survey produces. It rates the provider, not the person you deal with.