Logistics KPIs: What We Track to Deliver Better Service
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 visibleâand just as important: metrics.
We call them KPIsâKey Performance Indicators. Not the most thrilling name, I admit. But if youâre 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, weâve been refining our KPIs over the yearsânot to impress, but to improve. Because if you canât measure it, you canât manage it. And in this business, what gets measured gets better.
So, what exactly do we track? And more importantlyâwhy?
1. On-Time Delivery Rate (OTD)
Letâs 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, Ghanaâs 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 donât just shrugâwe 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 solidâespecially considering the variables outside anyoneâs control.
2. Customs Clearance Time
This oneâs bigâespecially 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. Thatâs 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, thatâs a risk. So we use that data to recommend cutoff timelinesânot 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 feesâit 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 clientâs 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
Hereâs something people donât usually ask aboutâbut 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 inlandâAccra 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 oneâs 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, âThis is the third time our packing list had errors,â thatâs a signal. We donât always get it right the first time, but we try hard to get it right the next.
Why This Matters
Clients donât always ask about KPIs. Some just want to know: âWill my goods arrive safely?â And thatâs fair.
But behind every smooth shipment is a pile of numbersâquiet 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 Novemberâhosted by the International Trade Councilâweâre reflecting on the systems that got us here.
This isnât just a ceremony. Itâs 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 arenât just about data. Theyâre about discipline. About being honest with yourself when somethingâs off, and curious enough to ask why.
At PORTLINK GHANA LIMITED, we donât track metrics for the sake of it. We track them so that our clientsâwhether SMEs or multinationalsâcan trust that weâre paying attention.
Not just when things go wrong. But especially when they go rightâbecause that usually means someone behind the scenes is doing something very right.


















