Most shippers can name their best and worst carrier from memory. Fewer can say by how much, or whether last quarter’s favorite has been slipping since. A carrier scorecard settles it with the same measures, computed the same way, for every carrier, every month, from your own records.
This guide covers what to measure and why, the formula for each measure, the default weights and how to change them, a monthly review routine, and how to check a carrier’s authority, insurance and safety record in FMCSA’s free public systems. The Excel template above does the arithmetic. It is for grading carriers you choose yourself; Averstone Logistics does not vet, rate or provide carriers.
What to measure, and why
A scorecard earns its keep when it measures what costs you money or customers when it fails, and when each measure is defined before the first month. Mike Broeckling’s carrier-scorecard column in SupplyChainBrain (June 11, 2026) recommends four to six measures tied to cost, customer experience or operational risk; an exact definition of on time; and weights that total 100, set by what hurts most when it fails. The template scores pickup and delivery separately because a late pickup and a late delivery hurt in different ways. It carries eight measures so you can switch off the ones that do not apply by setting their weight to zero.
- On-time pickup. A late truck at your dock holds up the crew, the next load and the receiver’s appointment.
- On-time delivery. The measure your customer sees. Retail DCs and job sites can refuse or reschedule late freight.
- Tender acceptance. Every load turned down sends you looking for another truck at short notice.
- Claim-free loads. How often something went wrong badly enough to file a claim.
- Claims cost. One crushed pallet and one lost truckload are both “one claim”; this measure tells them apart.
- Damage-free loads. Catches damage that never became a claim, such as a refused pallet you replaced yourself.
- Invoice accuracy. Billing errors cost your payables team time and can hide charges nobody approved.
- Tracking on time. Updates at pickup, in transit and on arrival let you warn your customer before a problem lands.
Safety, operating authority and insurance are not on that list on purpose. They are yes-or-no questions, not a matter of degree: a carrier whose authority has lapsed should not earn a passing grade because its trucks were punctual. The template records them on their own sheet and shows the result next to the score.
How to compute each measure
Every measure is a share between 0 and 100%, computed per carrier for one month. Most divide by loads moved, the loads that carrier hauled for you that month; tender acceptance divides by the loads you offered it.
| Measure | Formula | What you count |
|---|---|---|
| On-time pickup | On-time pickups ÷ loads moved | Pickups inside the appointment window or your written grace period |
| On-time delivery | On-time deliveries ÷ loads moved | Deliveries inside the appointment window or your grace period |
| Tender acceptance | Tenders accepted ÷ tenders offered | Loads you offered the carrier in writing, and how many it took |
| Claim-free loads | 1 − (claims filed ÷ loads moved) | Loss or damage claims filed that month |
| Claims cost | 1 − (claims $ ÷ freight paid) ÷ tolerance, not below 0 | Dollar value of those claims, and what you paid the carrier that month |
| Damage-free loads | Damage-free loads ÷ loads moved | Loads with no overage, shortage or damage noted on the delivery receipt |
| Invoice accuracy | 1 − (invoices needing correction ÷ loads moved) | Invoices you had to correct or dispute |
| Tracking on time | Loads with every agreed update on time ÷ loads moved | Loads where each agreed status update arrived when promised |
Then the score:
Score (0–100) = 100 × Σ (measure × weight) ÷ Σ (weights of the measures that have data)
Three rules keep the numbers honest. Type 0 when nothing happened (no claims, no invoice errors), because a zero is data. Leave a cell blank only when you did not track that measure; the template then leaves the measure out and skips its weight instead of scoring it as a failure. And counts larger than their base are highlighted in red, because they are almost always typing errors; every share is held between 0% and 100%.
Claims cost needs one setting, the claims tolerance: the share of the month’s freight paid at which claims cost scores zero. The template starts at 2%, so claims worth 1% of what you paid the carrier score 50%, and claims worth 2% or more score 0. A month with no claim dollars scores 100%.
Default weights and how to change them
| Measure | Default weight | Why it starts there |
|---|---|---|
| On-time delivery | 20 | The failure your customer sees first; receivers with appointment systems may refuse or reschedule. |
| On-time pickup | 15 | A late pickup squeezes everything after it, including the delivery. |
| Claim-free loads | 15 | Claims cost time and money even when they are paid. |
| Tender acceptance | 10 | Refused loads have to be covered again at short notice. |
| Claims cost | 10 | Separates a scuffed carton from a lost truckload. |
| Damage-free loads | 10 | Catches damage that never turned into a claim. |
| Invoice accuracy | 10 | Corrections and disputes slow your payables and hide unapproved charges. |
| Tracking on time | 10 | Late or missing updates turn small delays into surprises. |
| Total | 100 |
These are the template’s starting points, chosen by us, not an industry standard. To change one, type a new number in its yellow Weight cell on the How to use sheet and every score recalculates. The weights do not have to add to 100, because the score divides by their total. A shipper delivering mostly to retail distribution centers might raise on-time delivery to 30; one shipping high-value freight might raise claims cost; one that books every load days ahead might set tender acceptance to 0.
The color bands are settings too. The template marks a monthly or average score of 90 and up green, 75 to 89.9 amber and below 75 red. The same sheet holds the claims tolerance (2%) and how often to recheck each carrier’s safety record (every 90 days); the Carriers sheet turns amber when the last check is older than that.
Worked example (illustrative)
The month: September 2026. Two made-up carriers on your Southeast lanes. Carrier A moved 20 loads for you, Carrier B moved 12. These are the same two example carriers that ship pre-filled in the template, so you can watch the formulas produce these numbers.
| Counts for September | Carrier A | Carrier B |
|---|---|---|
| Loads moved | 20 | 12 |
| Tenders offered / accepted | 22 / 20 | 15 / 12 |
| On-time pickups / on-time deliveries | 19 / 18 | 12 / 12 |
| Claims filed (claims $) | 1 ($400) | 0 ($0) |
| Freight paid to the carrier | $36,000 | $20,400 |
| Damage-free loads | 19 | 12 |
| Invoices needing correction | 2 | 0 |
| Loads with tracking on time | 17 | 11 |
| Measure (weight) | Carrier A: share × weight | Carrier B: share × weight |
|---|---|---|
| On-time pickup (15) | 19 ÷ 20 = 95% → 14.25 | 12 ÷ 12 = 100% → 15.00 |
| On-time delivery (20) | 18 ÷ 20 = 90% → 18.00 | 12 ÷ 12 = 100% → 20.00 |
| Tender acceptance (10) | 20 ÷ 22 = 90.9% → 9.09 | 12 ÷ 15 = 80% → 8.00 |
| Claim-free loads (15) | 1 − 1 ÷ 20 = 95% → 14.25 | 1 − 0 ÷ 12 = 100% → 15.00 |
| Claims cost (10) | $400 ÷ $36,000 = 1.11% of freight paid; 1 − 1.11 ÷ 2 = 44.4% → 4.44 | No claim dollars = 100% → 10.00 |
| Damage-free loads (10) | 19 ÷ 20 = 95% → 9.50 | 12 ÷ 12 = 100% → 10.00 |
| Invoice accuracy (10) | 1 − 2 ÷ 20 = 90% → 9.00 | 1 − 0 ÷ 12 = 100% → 10.00 |
| Tracking on time (10) | 17 ÷ 20 = 85% → 8.50 | 11 ÷ 12 = 91.7% → 9.17 |
| Score | 87.03 ÷ 100 × 100 = 87.0 (amber) | 97.17 ÷ 100 × 100 = 97.2 (green) |
What it shows: Carrier A lost 12.97 points. Its one $400 claim cost 6.31 of them (5.56 on claims cost, 10 − 4.44, and 0.75 on claim-free loads); two late deliveries cost 2.00 and three loads with late tracking updates 1.50. Carrier B lost 2.83 points: 2.00 for turning down 3 of 15 tenders and 0.83 for one load with a late update.
Read small months with care: B’s 12 loads mean one more late delivery would have cost it 20 × 1 ÷ 12 = 1.67 points, dropping it to 95.5. That is why the template averages months on the Summary sheet: with an August row for each carrier (A 96.2, B 94.6), the two-month averages are A (96.2 + 87.0) ÷ 2 = 91.6 and B (94.6 + 97.2) ÷ 2 = 95.9.
Score and gate are separate: the template’s example safety check marks Carrier B “Review”: one vehicle out-of-service order in four roadside inspections (25%) sits above the 22.26% national vehicle average printed on the SAFER snapshot we used for illustration. Four inspections is a small sample. The right response is a question about B’s maintenance program, not a lower score.
How to run a monthly review
- Close the month from your own records. Your load list, delivery receipts, claims log, invoices and tracking emails. Numbers a carrier reports about itself are hard to check, so use your own.
- Add one row per carrier on the Monthly scores sheet: the month, the carrier from the drop-down, and the counts. Note any delay your side caused in the Notes column and leave it out of the late count.
- Read the Summary sheet. Average score, months scored, rank, band and the result of the latest safety check, side by side.
- Look at three months, not one. A carrier sliding from green to amber over a quarter tells you more than one bad week.
- Share each carrier’s row with it, along with your written definitions, and ask for the cause and the fix on anything amber or red. Carriers can only improve against a definition they have seen.
- Agree on consequences ahead of time. Broeckling lists tiered volume, rate changes at renewal, probation with an improvement window, and removal from the routing guide, applied consistently. He suggests monthly scorecards, quarterly business reviews and annual contract and lane reviews.
- Recheck safety on schedule. The Carriers sheet flags any carrier whose last check is older than your recheck setting.
How to check a carrier’s authority, insurance and safety in Motus and SAFER
Do this before the first load and again on your schedule. It takes a few minutes, uses free FMCSA systems, and the Safety checks sheet has a column for each item below. Which system answers which question has changed: FMCSA began moving its registration records into a new system called Motus on May 14, 2026, and its April 29, 2026 Federal Register notice says it will sunset the former Licensing and Insurance (L&I) system that older guides point to. A law firm’s October 14, 2026 client alert reports that the legacy SAFER and L&I pages no longer present current registration information, so use Motus for authority and insurance and SAFER for the safety record.
- Get the identifiers in writing. The carrier’s legal name, its USDOT number and, if it has one, its MC docket number. They should match the rate confirmation and the invoice.
- Search the Motus public search by USDOT number; type motus.dot.gov yourself rather than following a link, because FMCSA warns about look-alike sites. A name search returns every company that starts the same way, so finish with the number.
- Read the identity and status. The record shows the USDOT number with its status, the legal name, any DBA name, the principal place of business, the mailing address and the phone. All of it should match the carrier’s paperwork. Active is what you want; Inactive is a stop. For reference, SAFER’s own definitions (December 2025 snapshot) were that INACTIVE means the biennial MCS-150 update was not completed (49 CFR 390.19(b)(4)) and OUT-OF-SERVICE means the carrier is under an out-of-service order and not authorized to operate. Note the date of the last biennial update while you are there.
- Read the operating authority table. Expand the operating authority section. For a for-hire carrier of your freight between states you want Motor Carrier of Property reading Active. Inactive means it cannot operate under that authority, and a Pending status comes with a reason, such as missing financial responsibility filings.
- Compare insurance required with insurance on file. Open the authority to see the minimum required and the Insurance Details table: the insurer, the amount, the status and the effective and cancellation dates. Look for the BIPD (bodily-injury and property-damage liability) amount on file against the amount required, and for any cancellation date before your first load. FMCSA’s filing chart (updated March 26, 2026) sets $750,000 for for-hire carriers of non-hazardous property in vehicles of 10,001 lb GVWR or more and $300,000 under 10,001 lb.
- Open the SAFER Company Snapshot for the safety record and search by USDOT number, MC/MX number or company name. FMCSA describes the snapshot as the company’s identification, size, commodity information and safety record, free and one carrier at a time.
- Read the inspection summary. SAFER lists roadside inspections for the previous 24 months by vehicle, driver and hazmat, with the number placed out of service and the out-of-service percentage, next to a national average. On the December 2025 snapshot we opened, the national averages read 22.26% for vehicles, 6.67% for drivers and 4.44% for hazmat, as of November 28, 2025; they are recalculated monthly, so copy the ones you see. Read the inspection counts with the percentages: a carrier with three inspections can show 0% or 33% from a single stop. The crash table counts reportable crashes over 24 months and, as SAFER notes, says nothing about who was at fault.
- Note the safety rating. Under 49 CFR 385.3, Satisfactory means adequate safety management controls are in place and functioning; Conditional means they are not adequate and that could lead to the problems listed in 49 CFR 385.5; Unsatisfactory means they are not adequate and those problems have already happened. An unrated carrier is one FMCSA has not assigned a rating, which by itself says nothing either way.
- Ask for a certificate of insurance that lists cargo coverage. The same chart requires no cargo insurance filing for general freight (only household-goods carriers file $5,000 of cargo coverage), so the filing shown in Motus cannot tell you whether your freight is covered. Check the cargo limit against your load’s value, the deductible, the expiration date and any excluded commodities.
- Know what the public SMS shows. Since Section 5223 of the FAST Act (enacted December 4, 2015), FMCSA has removed alerts and relative percentiles for property carriers from the public Safety Measurement System and says it may not publish them until its correlation study and the Act’s certification requirements are complete (FMCSA, updated June 5, 2020). The statute keeps inspection and violation information, out-of-service rates and absolute measures public (§5223(c)). The SMS home page (data current as of September 25, 2026) shows property carriers’ inspection and crash data, investigation results and measures for the public BASICs, with the Crash Indicator and Hazardous Materials Compliance BASICs hidden.
- Record it with the date. One row on the Safety checks sheet. The template marks the row “All clear” only when the authority, insurance, cargo-certificate, rating and out-of-service items all pass (any of them left blank counts as not passing), and “Review” otherwise. It does not check the MCS-150 date, so look at that yourself. That is a checklist result, not a safety rating.
Motus is new and FMCSA may change its screens, so if a field described above has moved, start from fmcsa.dot.gov or call FMCSA’s contact center at 1-800-832-5660. Our guide to verifying a car shipper walks through the same Motus search screen by screen.
Red flags
- A USDOT status of Inactive or an out-of-service order, or a Motor Carrier of Property authority that reads Inactive or is missing in Motus.
- A Pending status with a reason, or a cancellation date on the carrier’s insurance filing in Motus.
- BIPD on file below the amount required, or a certificate of insurance with no cargo coverage, a cargo limit below your load’s value, or an expiration date before your delivery.
- A Conditional or Unsatisfactory safety rating.
- Vehicle or driver out-of-service rates well above the national averages across a meaningful number of inspections.
- An MCS-150 form date more than two years old, or a company name, address or phone on the paperwork that does not match Motus and SAFER.
- A carrier that will not put its USDOT number in writing, or that asks by email to change where you send payment.
- On the scorecard: a score falling three months in a row, or a carrier that accepts most tenders when trucks are plentiful and few when they are scarce. Broeckling’s point: a carrier that accepts 95% in a soft market and 70% in a tight one “isn’t a 95% carrier.”
Before the first load with any carrier, the Quote-Ready Checklist lists the shipment details a carrier needs, and the accessorial charges guide explains the extra lines that most often cause invoice corrections. Have freight coming up? Tell us about your freight.