Why a Reliable Forwarder Matters When Ocean Reliability Wanes

Global schedule reliability dropped from 64.5% in May 2026 to 49.9% in August, the worst performance since September 2022, with vessels delayed an average of 6.81 days. This level of unreliability serves as a reminder just how important a reliable freight forwarder is. When forwarders put off updates or don’t communicate at all when issues arise, shippers lose actionable visibility. That gap is precisely what PeerPLUS, Laufer’s end-to-end visibility tool, was built to fill.

Beyond losing precious time, a delayed freight status update means your warehouse must plan around a container that will miss its schedule. But then, your purchasing department is powerless to change the order. Worst of all, you learn about demurrage charges only after the invoice arrives.

Most organizations aren’t structured to respond quickly to incidents, even when they receive timely notification, and the longer it takes for someone to ask for help, the wider the gap between “there was an issue” and “we are taking action” becomes.

Unfortunately, this type of problem is no longer a one-off occurrence. A February 2025 survey found that 55% of supply chain managers dealt with supplier disruptions in the six months before the survey. And 68% of respondents believed that such disruptions would become more frequent in the future. When disruptions occur this often, the communication cadence can’t be only reactive to delays or other issues.

Good logistics communication shows up before the question does, ensuring you know what changed and what to do about it. Here is how:

PeerPLUS starts tracking at booking, which matters because this is where exceptions are the easiest — and cheapest — to handle. A routing tweak before the freight leaves the port can cost a fraction of what an expedited air shipment will cost if you miss a connection. And that window for action closes fast.

By providing regularly scheduled milestone reports instead of continuous back-and-forth updates, PeerPLUS offers a workable alternative. The reports are delivered as downloadable spreadsheets that link back to the platform and let the team work outside the network while still linking each itemized shipment detail to its origin. Logistics managers can use these report schedules as a basis for their internal reporting requirements.

For exceptions, milestone-based alerts notify you about shipments that need closer attention and exclude those continuing on their original timeline. At Laufer, we call this actionable visibility. It entails tracking data organized around decisions rather than just coordinates.

Real-time freight status updates that show a shipment’s location should be a minimum standard. However, while freight forwarding companies generally notify customers only when a shipment has issues, they do little to nothing else when other freight-related matters, such as supply chain constraints, affect it.

The Gallup Business Journal reported in 2025 that 90% of U.S. business leaders surveyed believed that tariffs had impacted or would impact their businesses negatively. As tariff rates fluctuate, classifications change, or new tariffs take effect, customers need to receive the same type of notification from their freight company before it appears on their invoice.

To address these concerns, PeerPLUS provides tariff slicing across Section 232, 301, and AD/CVD categories so shippers can understand exactly how different types of duties affect landed costs. Laufer’s team takes these capabilities and adds layers of market intelligence, including lane conditions, capacity availability/shortages, and regulatory updates, to proactively inform shippers regarding changes affecting the movement of goods.

Additionally, the data within PeerPLUS helps shippers plan and prepare their internal forecasts by showing what is currently in transit, what has cleared customs, and what is still pending.

Think back over the last 90 days:

• How were you notified of problems in your logistics process, and when did you first learn about the most recent blank sailing?
• Did you learn about it through your forwarder or through a news outlet?
• When was the last time something went wrong with one of your shipments?
• Did your forwarder bring it to your attention or did you find out on your own?
• Can you currently produce a list of all open shipments in your process and the status/milestone each is at?

If your expectations weren’t met, you may need to rethink how information flows within your logistics process before the next issue occurs. Laufer’s PeerPLUS gives shippers one tool for milestone visibility, exception alerts, tariff breakdowns, and scheduled reporting. Contact us today to get started.