Contrary to legacy schedule reliability measurements, Drewry’s methodology fixes scheduled arrival times as far as 6 weeks in advance, rather than just 15 days ahead of the arrival time, to better align with the actual planning horizon of shippers/BCOs (Beneficial Cargo Owners). This allows shippers to measure service reliability against the scheduled arrival dates they were given at the time of booking - rather than the scheduled arrival time when the cargo is already on the vessel. 

A second innovation introduced by Drewry is a frequency distribution of vessel delays, offering a more nuanced view beyond simple on-time percentages. By showing how delays are spread – whether concentrated around a few days or more widely dispersed – BCOs gain clearer visibility into risk and potential supply chain disruption. Furthermore, this data can help them to estimate inventory buffer and associated supply chain costs.

“With this new approach combining ‘average on-time performance’ and ‘distribution of delay’ metrics, we move closer to the way shippers actually look at reliability and the risk of delays,” said Philip Damas, head of the supply chains practice at Drewry. 

The new monthly, Schedule Reliability addendum to Container Capacity Insight is one of the tools made available to Drewry customers to assess, mitigate or reduce risk in ocean procurement and vendor management.

To request a demonstration of Container Capacity Insight email supplychains@drewry.co.uk