7 last-mile delivery metrics to measure success

1. Delivery length

One critical metric to track is the length of delivery routes.

Tracking this KPI can involve collecting vehicle and driver data along the delivery route and comparing it against the estimated mileage. Differences between the existing data and estimated mileage might signal inefficient routes or unreported driver movements.

2. Customer responses

Last-mile delivery success often depends on customer satisfaction. Measuring customer experience can provide insight into major pain points, if any.

One customer feedback collection method is providing a way for customers to leave ratings and send in complaints, such as a feedback form or a support website. Employees can then sort complaints into categories such as damaged products, delivery delays or poor communication.

Another way to measure this KPI is through a customer satisfaction (CSAT) score. Companies can gather customer feedback via surveys or other means and ask customers to rate their experience on a numbered scale, like one to 10. Analyzing an aggregated score can help understand current last-mile delivery performance.

3. Delivery accuracy

One of the most important last-mile delivery metrics is delivery and order accuracy. In this case, accuracy refers to the right customers getting the right products. Many companies establish an acceptable accuracy rate, often measured as a percentage, and continually track it.

Some questions that help assess accuracy are whether customers are receiving the right order, whether part of the order is missing, and whether the product arrived in good condition.

Technology like warehouse management systems can help enable more accurate product sorting.

4. Operational expenses

Getting an accurate picture of the success of last-mile delivery often requires measuring all related operational expenses, which include labor costs, vehicle maintenance and third-party logistics as well as cost per delivery and hours in motion.

Labor management is crucial for optimizing operations and keeping costs low. The process includes any employee who is involved in the last-mile delivery workflow, from drivers to inventory stockers. Metrics like labor turnover and hourly wages can give insight into relative success of labor management.

Vehicle maintenance is a fixed expense but still worth calculating to understand its effect on the bottom line. Vehicle maintenance expenses include insurance, inspection renewals and fleet management costs.

Meanwhile, logistics management includes any tools, software or third-party services that help coordinate and execute deliveries.

Learning what is involved in these expenses can help with creating an accurate cost per delivery metric. The hours in motion measurement may also give insight into any opportunities for increased efficiency.

5. Fuel consumption rate

High fuel consumption rates might indicate inefficient routing or poor planning, and they affect both operational costs and overall sustainability. Calculating fuel consumption rate per vehicle, per route and across the fleet can provide insight into areas for efficiency improvements.

One option for capturing this data is to track miles per gallon, which can be done per vehicle. Another method is to track fuel cost per delivery, which involves dividing the total fuel cost by the number of deliveries on a route or looking at the fuel cost for a single delivery's entire journey.

Regardless of the method chosen, creating an average of fuel prices requires a sufficient data set. Tracking these rates can be done day by day, week over week, monthly or annually until enough data is gathered.

From there, solutions can be implemented. These could include more fuel-efficient vehicles and grouping deliveries to reduce backtracking on a route.

The fuel consumption rate can also give insight into carbon emissions across a fleet, which can be helpful for reducing environmental impact.

6. Delivery time

Delivery time is an analysis of how long it takes to get a delivery from one location to another. For last-mile delivery, the delivery time is usually how long it takes for a driver to pick up an order at a warehouse or fulfillment center and deliver it to the customer. Issues that might affect delivery time include warehouse delays and busy traffic patterns.

Examining additional KPIs, such as the total time per stop and average time per delivery, could be helpful for evaluating last-mile delivery success.

7. Delivery rate

Delivery rate measures how many deliveries arrive at their destination on time.

Measuring on-time deliveries is only one aspect of this KPI. Other data that can affect the metric include the number and percentage of missed deliveries and first-attempt delivery success. Missed deliveries can occur because address information is unclear. First-attempt delivery success is also important because needing to make another delivery attempt increases delivery costs.

One way to improve this metric is to require proof of delivery verification from delivery drivers so the exact delivery time is recorded. Analyzing delivery rate data might also reveal other issues, such as problems with route planning and optimization.

Jacob Roundy is a freelance writer and editor specializing in a variety of technology topics, including data centers and sustainability.