#freightexcellence

By EUGENIA EYRAM OPEKU

In logistics, things move fast. Containers shift ports, trucks hit the road, documents get signed, and deliveries (hopefully) arrive on time. But beneath all that motion lies something quieter, less visible—and just as important: metrics.

We call them KPIs—Key Performance Indicators. Not the most thrilling name, I admit. But if you’re trying to figure out whether a logistics partner is actually doing a good job, KPIs are where the truth lives.

At PORTLINK GHANA LIMITED, based in Ghana, we’ve been refining our KPIs over the years—not to impress, but to improve. Because if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. And in this business, what gets measured gets better.

So, what exactly do we track? And more importantly—why?

1. On-Time Delivery Rate (OTD)

Let’s start with the obvious. Did the cargo arrive when we said it would?

At first glance, this seems simple. But in practice, calculating OTD means accounting for:

Port delays

Customs clearance timing

Vehicle breakdowns

Border congestion

Weather (yes, Ghana’s rainy season still finds ways to surprise us)

We track on-time delivery as a percentage across different routes and services. If that number dips, we don’t just shrug—we investigate. What changed? Was it a systemic issue or a one-off?

Over the past year, our average OTD has hovered above 94%. Not perfect, but pretty solid—especially considering the variables outside anyone’s control.

2. Customs Clearance Time

This one’s big—especially for our clients importing through Tema or exporting to neighboring countries like Togo and Burkina Faso.

Delays at customs can wipe out even the best logistics planning. That’s why we track:

Average clearance duration (in hours)

Percentage of shipments cleared within 48 hours

Frequency of documentation issues flagged

We also keep tabs on pre-clearance submissions. If a client sends documents too late, that’s a risk. So we use that data to recommend cutoff timelines—not to nag, but to help them avoid demurrage.

3. Container Dwell Time at Port

Every extra day a container sits at the port costs money. Storage charges, handling fees—it adds up quickly.

We track how long containers stay between:

Discharge from vessel

Final pickup or delivery

Our internal goal is to keep this below 3.5 days on average. Of course, sometimes the delay is on the client’s end, or due to red flags during inspection. But tracking dwell time lets us see patterns, and address repeat bottlenecks before they escalate.

4. Vehicle Uptime and Fleet Availability

Here’s something people don’t usually ask about—but probably should: How many of your trucks are road-ready right now?

We track:

Percentage of fleet available daily

Unscheduled breakdowns per 1,000 km

Maintenance turnaround time

Why? Because our clients rely on those trucks to move goods inland—Accra to Kumasi, Tema to Tamale, and sometimes across borders to Ouagadougou. If a vehicle is down, service is delayed. Period.

Thanks to a proactive maintenance plan, our fleet availability stays above 96%, even during peak seasons. (But that one stubborn trailer axle in April? Still haunts us.)

5. Customer Satisfaction and Issue Resolution

Okay, this one’s trickier to measure. But it matters just as much.

We run periodic feedback surveys and issue logs, tracking:

Number of complaints per 100 shipments

Time to resolve client-reported issues

Repeat complaints by category

If someone says, “This is the third time our packing list had errors,” that’s a signal. We don’t always get it right the first time, but we try hard to get it right the next.

Why This Matters

Clients don’t always ask about KPIs. Some just want to know: “Will my goods arrive safely?” And that’s fair.

But behind every smooth shipment is a pile of numbers—quiet indicators that help us identify problems before they become disruptions.

And as PORTLINK GHANA LIMITED prepares for the 2025 Go Global Awards in London this November—hosted by the International Trade Council—we’re reflecting on the systems that got us here.

This isn’t just a ceremony. It’s a gathering of people who think deeply about performance, partnerships, and how we all deliver value in a rapidly changing trade landscape. For us, sharing our KPI journey is part of that dialogue. Because improvement is a shared effort.

Final Thought

KPIs aren’t just about data. They’re about discipline. About being honest with yourself when something’s off, and curious enough to ask why.

At PORTLINK GHANA LIMITED, we don’t track metrics for the sake of it. We track them so that our clients—whether SMEs or multinationals—can trust that we’re paying attention.