How a Global Forwarder Negotiates, Plans and Sells on Measured Carrier Reliability

A global forwarder replaced carrier claims with measured reliability for 400+ services, so every tender, lead time and premium price rests on evidence.

The Company

A leading global freight forwarder ships around 150,000 ocean containers a year on 60+ contracted lanes. Carriers used to quote their own reliability at tender, and premium services were sold on schedules that rarely held. Marina, the Market Reliability Agent, now measures reliability for every carrier and every service it runs, 400+ services in all, so the team negotiates, plans and sells on evidence.

The Challenge

Claims at tender time

Carrier performance figures came from the carriers themselves, with no independent check.

Advertised transit times

Lead times followed the published schedule, not what sailings actually delivered.

Premium without proof

Faster services were priced with no evidence they run on time on the lane.

The Solution

Marina rates reliability at two levels, each carrier and each service it runs, on every lane. It compares announced with actual transit time and explains what it means in plain language. The team decides.

Benchmark, Compare, Explain, Decide. — *How Marina works: it benchmarks every carrier and service, compares announced with actual transit time, explains why each one rates the way it does, and leaves the decision to your team.*

Evidence in the room

Every carrier bidding for a lane is compared with what it actually delivered.

Measured transit time

Lead times use actual transit time, including multi-leg transshipment routes.

Premium on proof

A faster service is checked against its record before it is priced.

Inside a Marina Read

Marina rates each carrier and each service on a lane and recommends how much buffer to plan, shown here for Ningbo to Hamburg.

Marina market reliability read for Ningbo to Hamburg, with carrier and service reliability charts and a recommended 10.6-day buffer. — A Marina read for Ningbo to Hamburg: only 41.3% of 46 measured options arrived on schedule, Carrier A’s direct service was on time 8 times out of 8, and Marina recommends planning 10.6 days of buffer.

The Impact

Marina represents ~$587k of estimated value every year, across all lanes, as every tender, lead time and premium price now rests on measured carrier and service performance.

Measure	What it is based on	Result
Tender outcomes	About $240M of freight spend. Before: carrier claims at tender. After: lane-level evidence in the room.	~$297k
Lead time planning	About 138 fewer expedited or rebooked shipments a year. Before: advertised transit times. After: measured transit times.	~$164k
Premium services	About 1,290 extra premium bookings a year. Before: priced on claims. After: priced on proof.	~$126k
Estimated value every year		~$587k

Beyond the Numbers

Tenders on evidence: Rates and service levels are negotiated from delivered performance, with contracted carriers compared against the lane average.
Consistent booking choices: Booking desks see how each service has run before they choose.
Lead times that fit: Marina suggests the buffer to plan, so lead times match what carriers deliver.
Answers that hold up: Delivery promises and premium offers rest on measured performance.
Transshipment included: Services that transship are rated on the full route and compared with direct ones across the lane.
One set of numbers: Procurement, operations and sales work from the same evidence.

Curious how Portcast can cut manual tracking, improve shipment visibility, and reduce costs? Get in touch to explore how.