Where is your freight losing time and money?
Ten multiple-choice questions across planning, shipment data, dock readiness, carrier vetting and cost control. You get a score, your three weakest areas and one fix for each. No email, and your answers stay in your browser.
About three minutes. Answer for how a typical load goes, not your best week. All ten questions are required. Each answer is worth 0 to 3 points; the result shows a score out of 100, a bar for each area and one concrete fix for each of your weakest areas, up to three.
What the five areas measure
Each area gets two questions. Together they follow one load from the first order to the paid invoice, so a low score points at a stage of the process, not at a person.
1. Planning and lead time
The gap between knowing a load exists and telling someone who can move it. A short gap leaves fewer trucks to choose from and no time to fix a wrong weight or a missing appointment before pickup. Busy weeks shrink the gap further: holidays, produce and retail seasons, quarter-end pushes and roadside enforcement weeks all compete for the same trucks. The Shipping Seasons Calendar lays them out month by month, and the Quote-Ready Checklist covers what the first message about a load should say.
2. Shipment data quality
Weight, piece count, dimensions, freight description, reference numbers and special needs such as a liftgate, a tarp or a delivery appointment. A price is only as good as these numbers. A wrong weight can put the load on equipment that cannot legally carry it, a missing dimension can send a truck the freight does not fit, and a bill of lading that does not match the purchase order gives the receiver a reason to refuse. Measure with the pallet or crate included (the pallet calculator turns that into floor space) and build the bill of lading from the order with the BOL generator.
3. Dock and appointment readiness
Whether the freight is staged when the truck arrives, and whether the delivery matches the receiver's rules. Waiting time at the dock adds up quickly. Research the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) released on September 10, 2024 found that drivers reported being detained at 39.3 percent of stops in 2023. The public comments summarized in FMCSA's February 16, 2024 notice on its detention study blamed understaffed docks, appointments that were not honored and appointments set at shift changes or breaks. Receivers add their own rules: SPS Commerce's routing-guide explainer (updated July 6, 2026) notes that many routing guides set a deadline for moving or cancelling an appointment, and that missing it, or making the change outside the retailer's preferred portal, often brings a no-show or late-appointment fee that can reach hundreds of dollars per occurrence. The Retail DC delivery guide walks through what receivers check.
4. Carrier selection and vetting
Who gets the freight, and how you know they are who they say they are. Before a first load, confirm in FMCSA's public records that the carrier's operating authority is active and ask for a current insurance certificate. Federal rules set a floor, not a target: a for-hire vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 10,001 lb or more carrying general freight between states must carry at least $750,000 of public liability coverage (GVWR is the manufacturer's maximum loaded weight for the vehicle, 49 CFR 390.5, not how much cargo it carries; the $750,000 floor is in 49 CFR 387.9). That covers harm to others, not your freight; cargo coverage is separate, with its own limit and exclusions. After the load, a carrier scorecard turns impressions into numbers you can compare month to month.
5. Cost control and accessorials
Whether you know what a load should cost before it moves, and can check every extra line after. The paper trail decides disputes: in the same September 2024 release, ATRI reported that 94.5 percent of fleets charge detention fees, yet those fees are paid on fewer than half of the invoices. Unrecorded waits are the hardest to settle either way. Write free time and accessorial rates into the rate confirmation, log in and out times, keep lumper receipts, and estimate the miles and equipment before you ask for a price. The accessorial charges guide defines each extra line, and the hotshot estimator works out miles and equipment for open-deck loads.
Where a load leaks time and money
How the score is calculated
Every answer is worth 0 to 3 points, so ten questions add up to at most 30. The overall score is your points ÷ 30 × 100, rounded. Each area score is its two questions ÷ 6 × 100, rounded. The bands are our own rubric for reading the number: Firefighting 0–39, Patchy 40–64, Steady 65–84 and Dialed in 85–100. The three lowest areas get a fix, as long as they scored below 100; ties go to the area listed first, and within an area the fix comes from the question you scored lower on.
Worked example (illustrative)
A shipping manager at a mid-size manufacturer answers for a typical week:
| Question | Area | Answer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Planning and lead time | The day before pickup | 1 |
| 2 | Planning and lead time | No preparation; notice when rates or delays jump | 0 |
| 3 | Shipment data quality | Usually confirmed, dimensions sometimes missing | 2 |
| 4 | Shipment data quality | Typed at the last minute from memory | 1 |
| 5 | Dock and appointment readiness | Staged, but waits aren't tracked | 2 |
| 6 | Dock and appointment readiness | Routing guide kept and matched | 3 |
| 7 | Carrier selection and vetting | USDOT number and some insurance | 2 |
| 8 | Carrier selection and vetting | Don't judge carriers after delivery | 0 |
| 9 | Cost control and accessorials | Pay it and raise questions later | 1 |
| 10 | Cost control and accessorials | Go by what the last one cost | 1 |
| Total: 1 + 0 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 0 + 1 + 1 | 13 of 30 | ||
Overall: 13 ÷ 30 × 100 = 43.3, rounded to 43, which falls in Patchy (40–64).
Areas: planning 1 + 0 = 1, and 1 ÷ 6 × 100 = 16.7, so 17; shipment data 2 + 1 = 3, so 3 ÷ 6 × 100 = 50; dock readiness 2 + 3 = 5, so 83.3, shown as 83; carrier vetting 2 + 0 = 2, so 33.3, shown as 33; cost control 1 + 1 = 2, also 33.
Three weakest: planning (17), then carrier vetting and cost control, tied at 33 and listed in quiz order, ahead of shipment data (50). Each fix comes from the lower-scoring question in the area: question 2 for planning (0 points: keep a calendar of peak and enforcement weeks), question 8 for carrier vetting (0 points: score carriers monthly) and, because questions 9 and 10 tie at 1 point, question 9 for cost control (check every extra line against your times and receipts).
Cheapest fixes first
- Log in and out times at your own dock. It costs a clipboard or a shared sheet, and it is the record every detention line is checked against.
- Weigh and measure before you ask for a price. A confirmed weight and dimensions are what keep the first price from being re-quoted.
- Read the routing guide before the first delivery, not after the first chargeback, and check it again before each busy season.
- Check a new carrier once, properly, then score it every month instead of relying on memory.
Quiz questions
How is my score calculated?
Each of the ten answers is worth 0 to 3 points, so the most you can score is 30. Your overall score is your points divided by 30, times 100, rounded to a whole number. Each area score is the points from its two questions divided by 6, times 100. The three lowest areas get a fix, but only an area that scored below 100 is listed as weak (if every area is 100, the page says so and shows three habits to keep); when two areas tie, the one listed first in the quiz comes first, and within an area the fix comes from the question you scored lower on.
Are the bands an industry benchmark?
No. Firefighting (0–39), Patchy (40–64), Steady (65–84) and Dialed in (85–100) are our own rubric for reading the score. They are not based on a survey of other shippers, and the quiz does not compare you with anyone. Use the score to compare your own operation with itself over time.
Is anything I answer sent to Averstone Logistics?
No. The quiz runs in your browser. The result (score, band and the five area scores, not your individual answers) is saved in this browser's local storage so you can see it on your next visit; clearing site data removes it. Our analytics receives only three things, none of them your answers: that you started, the band name when you finish, and that you clicked the amber button under the result (the one that opens our form). That button also keeps a one-line summary in this browser's session storage to pre-fill our form, and it reaches us only if you submit that form. Copying or retaking sends nothing.
Why does dock readiness count when it is the carrier who waits?
Because waiting gets billed and priced. Detention, layover and truck-ordered-not-used charges come back to the shipper, and they are hard to dispute without your own in and out times. ATRI's research released September 10, 2024 found drivers reported being detained at 39.3 percent of stops in 2023, and the public comments summarized in FMCSA's February 16, 2024 notice pointed to understaffed docks, appointments that were not honored and appointments set at shift changes.
What should I check before giving freight to a new carrier?
That its operating authority is active in FMCSA's public records, that its insurance certificate is current and names the limits, and that the truck and driver who arrive match the dispatch. A for-hire vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 10,001 lb or more hauling general freight between states must carry at least $750,000 of public liability coverage (49 CFR 387.9). That protects the public, not your freight; cargo coverage is separate, so ask what it covers and up to what amount.
Is this quiz a quote or a rating of any carrier?
No. It is a self-check of your own shipping process. It does not price freight, review any carrier or replace the receiver's routing guide or your contracts. The fixes link to our free guides and tools, which you can use on your own.
How often should I retake it?
After you change a process, and before each busy season. Your last result is shown at the top of the quiz on this device, so you can see whether the area you worked on moved.
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