Global container schedule reliability in October 2025. Close to four in ten vessels did not arrive on schedule.
Source [1] · Sea-IntelligenceShipment status, sent before anyone asks
Your client shouldn't have to ask.
The status is already in their inbox.
Logistics ERP checks the carrier for you and follows every service on the order. When something changes, a clear status report goes to your client automatically, from your own mailbox. Your team stops copying and pasting, and your clients stop chasing.
Services status, order 0000055: vessel departed Rotterdam, arrival Busan 2 Dec
Track & Trace · Ocean FCLIn transit
Rotterdam → Busan
Container ABCU 812044-740' HCVessel AURORA BAY 011E
4 of 5 stepsDay 7 of 54
Departed Rotterdam Actual10 Oct 2026, 01:25
Arrives Busan Estimate2 Dec 2026, 22:00
Gate in, outbound terminal30 Sep, 18:57 · Actual
Loaded on vessel6 Oct, 10:16 · Actual
At sea · 3,111 of 26,410 kmPosition estimated today
Discharged, Busan2 Dec · Estimate
Sending · next tomorrow 10:30
Carrier checked every hour, 08:00–18:00. A change is e-mailed at the next check.
Why it matters
An update the client didn't have to ask for is the service they remember
Your client has a production line, a warehouse slot or a buyer waiting on that container. What they want from their forwarder most is to know where it is, and to hear about a change before it hurts.
A shipment is weeks of silence for the client. The goods are gone, the invoice is paid, and the only proof that someone is looking after it is the next message from you. When that message comes regularly, the client trusts the shipment. When it doesn't, they start to worry, and they call.
And things do change. Vessels roll, transshipments slip, a customs entry waits for a document. The ETA the client wrote down on day one is often not the ETA on the last day. A client who learns about a delay from you, early, can plan around it. A client who finds out at the warehouse door remembers who didn't tell them.
Regular status reports are the cheapest way to turn an ordinary forwarding job into excellent service. They need only one thing your team rarely has: the time to check every carrier for every shipment and write it down, every day.
Today, for most forwardersThe client chases
Client e-mails "any news?"→
Operator opens carrier site→
Copies, pastes, types→
Reply, hours later
The client had to ask, and waited for the answer. The ETA change from Tuesday was never passed on, because nobody looked.
With Track & Trace and Auto statusThe client is told
Carrier checked hourly→
Change found→
Status report sent→
Client informed, unasked
The client hears about the new ETA the same day it changes. Your operator spends the time on the shipments that need a person.
The average delay of a late vessel arrival in the same month. Long enough to miss a delivery slot or a production start.
Source [1] · Sea-IntelligenceOcean, LCL and air carriers read into one Track & Trace list, instead of thirteen websites and logins to check by hand.
Logistics ERP Track & Trace, October 2026Auto status checks the carrier through the working day and e-mails the client when the status changes, or at the times you choose.
Auto status settingsThe best status update is the one your client gets before they think of asking for it.
How Auto status works
Your image
From copy-paste e‑mails to a status report with your name on it
The client judges your company by what lands in their inbox. A hurried paste from a carrier site says "we checked when you asked". A clear report on schedule says "we are watching your cargo".
The manual updateSent when the client asked
RE: RE: RE: Shipment status?To: client · Sent 16:48, two days after the question
Hi,
Sorry for the late reply, please see the latest status below from the carrier website:
ABCU8120447 LOADED ON VESSEL 06-OCT-2026 10:16 ROTTERDAM WORLD GATEWAY AURORA BAY / 011E VESSEL DEPARTURE 10-OCT-2026 01:25
ETA Busan should be around end of November, I will check again next week.
The ETA moved to 2 Dec on Tuesday. Nobody noticed.
Best regards
- Comes when the client asks, sometimes days later
- Carrier codes and screen dumps the client has to decode
- Each operator writes it differently, if at all
- Changes slip through between two questions
The Logistics ERP status reportSent automatically
Status as of 16 Oct 2026, 10:30ETA changed
Rotterdam → Busan
Container ABCU 812044-7Booking RTM0268987AURORA BAY 011E
Departed · at seaDay 7 of 54
Departed Actual10 Oct, 01:25
Arrival Busan, was 25 Nov Estimate2 Dec, 22:00
Export customs clearedCustoms export · 7 Oct · Completed
Vessel departed RotterdamOcean FCL · 10 Oct · Actual
At sea, transshipment Singapore 12 NovOcean FCL · Estimate
Import entry and delivery to your warehouseCustoms import · Truck · planned 3 Dec
- Arrives on schedule, and again whenever the status changes
- Plain words, actual and estimated dates marked as such
- Your logo, your mailbox, the same layout from every operator
- The ETA change is in the report the day it happens
Three ways to keep the client informed
The whole order, one carrier, or live in the portal
Some clients want the full picture of pickup, customs, freight and delivery. Some only want the vessel. Some want to look for themselves. Logistics ERP covers all three from the same data.
Done6
In progress3
Late2
Issues0
Origin
Truck · Container deliveryLate
Customs export · Export entryCompleted
Freight
Ocean FCL · DepartureCompleted
Insurance · Policy issuedConfirmed
Destination
Customs import · Import entryPending
The full order service report
Every service you handle on the order, grouped into origin, freight and destination: truck, warehouse, export customs, the sea or air leg, insurance, import customs and delivery, each with its status and planned or actual date.
- Planned dates follow the order's timing rules: CY cut-off − 4 days, departure − 12 hours, arrival + 7 days
- The carrier's departure and arrival feed straight into the freight steps
- Choose which steps the client sees in the report
Ocean FCLBy container, B/L or booking
ONE · Maersk · MSC · Hapag-Lloyd · CMA CGM · COSCO · OOCL · HMM · Yang Ming
Ocean LCLBy booking or B/L
ECU Worldwide, through its official tracking API, including the LCL master B/L
AirBy AWB
Korean Air · Air France KLM · DHL Express
A Track & Trace report per carrier
For clients who only need the freight. The carrier's own events, read into one layout: route on a map, the vessel and voyage or the flights, every milestone marked actual or estimated, and the ETA history when it moves.
- One reference is enough: container, B/L, booking or AWB
- The same report for every carrier, so the client learns it once
- Exceptions and ETA changes flagged in the list
https://portal.your-company.com/portal/orders/0000055
Netherlands → KoreaBooked
Request
Offers
Booking
Booked
In transit
Delivered
Track & Trace · MaerskDelivered
Algeciras → Busan12 of 12 steps
Live in your Client Portal
Your client signs in on your own domain and sees the order as your team does: the stage it has reached, every service, the documents, the payment, and the same Track & Trace with map and events, updated as the carrier reports.
- Order progress from request to delivered
- Services, documents and invoices on the same page
- Status at any hour, without an e-mail or a call
Auto status
Set it once per shipment. It keeps reporting until arrival.
Auto status sits on every order and every Track & Trace. One small panel decides when the carrier is checked, when the client hears from you and from which mailbox. Your operator never has to remember to send.
Auto status0000055 · Ocean FCL · Rotterdam (NLRTM) → Busan (KRPUS)
Carrier checkOn
From08:00
To18:00
Every1 hour2 hours
E-mail to clientOn
Times
Every day at 10:30 · next e-mail tomorrow 10:30
10:30Add time ▾
Send fromops@your-company.com · Microsoft 365
Send to
logistics@client.compurchasing@client.com
Last result
StatusSending · next tomorrow 10:30
Last check16 Oct 11:20 · In transit
Last e-mail16 Oct 10:34 · Sent
Next checkToday 12:00
RemoveSend now
- 1
Switch on the carrier check
Choose the hours, say 08:00 to 18:00, and every hour or every two hours. Logistics ERP reads the carrier and, on an order, rebuilds the status of every service.
- 2
Pick when the client hears from you
Add one or more fixed times, such as 10:30 each day, for a regular report whatever happens. Or tick "Send e-mail" on the check, and the client hears only when something has changed.
- 3
Send from your own mailbox
The report goes out from the operator's Microsoft 365 or e-mail account, to the client addresses on the order, with your logo, so a reply comes back to the person who handles it.
- 4
See what went out
The last check, the last e-mail and the next run are on the panel, and a chip in the list shows "Sending · next tomorrow 10:30" on every shipment. "Send now" sends a report at once.
ON CHANGENo news is not sent as news
The check e-mails only when the report differs from the last one the client received. No change, no e-mail: the log says "Checked · No change".
ON SCHEDULEFixed times always send
A report at a set time goes out whether or not anything moved, for clients who want to hear from you every day.
ORDER + T&TThe same panel in both places
On an order it reports all services. On a Track & Trace it reports the carrier. Same settings, same behaviour.
CONTROLPause all with one click
Holidays or a system change: pause every Auto status from the list and resume later. Nothing is lost.
Your own efficiency
Your team checks exceptions, not carrier websites
The same data that informs the client tells your operators where to look. Every shipment of every carrier in one list, and each order's late steps on top.
Active 5Arrived 7
Tracked12
In transit5
Arrived7
ETA changed1
| Carrier | Reference | From | To | Status | ETA | Auto status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ECU Worldwide | SGN/SIN/4098648 | Singapore (SGSIN) | Ho Chi Minh City (VNSGN) | In transit | 21/10/26 | Sending · next tomorrow 10:30Check 12:00 |
| Yang Ming | RTM0268987 | Rotterdam (NLRTM) | Busan (KRPUS) | In transit | Sending · on changeCheck 12:00 | |
| OOCL | OOLU2337841 | Busan (KRPUS) | Antwerp (BEANR) | In transit | 17/11/26 | Sending · next Mon 09:00Check 13:00 |
| Air France KLM | 074-46723202 | Amsterdam (AMS) | Seoul (ICN) | In transit | 17/10/26 | Sending · on changeCheck 12:00 |
| CMA CGM | TRHU6177760 | Antwerp (BEANR) | Sydney (AUSYD) | In transit | 04/11/26 | Off |
One list, every carrier
Thirteen ocean, LCL and air carriers in the same columns. No more logging in to each carrier website and pasting a reference.
Changes find you
"ETA changed" counts the shipments whose arrival moved, so the one that needs a phone call is the one you see first.
Sending is never forgotten
Every shipment shows whether Auto status is on and when the next report goes. A shipment with no updates stands out.
Order services · Next actions
On a door-to-door order, the services nobody is watching are the risk. The follow-up view compares every service step with its planned date from the timing rules and puts what is late or missing on top, most urgent first.
Mark a step done, add a note or postpone it from the same row. The status your operator sets is the status in the next client report.
CY cut-off passed · Container delivery not doneCY cut-off 05/10 21:00 · departure 2 days ago
DoneNoteS/I cut-off and VGM cut-off not setWaiting: Send Shipping Instruction, VGM
OpenExport entry overdue 3 daysCustoms export · Processing · departure − 12 h
DonePostponeB/L draft due in 2 daysOcean FCL · Pending · departure + 5 days
Start| Task | By hand | With Logistics ERP |
|---|---|---|
| Checking the carrier | Log in to each carrier site, paste each reference, every day | Checked every 1 or 2 hours, all carriers in one list |
| Spotting a delay | Only if someone happens to look on the right day | "ETA changed" in the list, the old and new date side by side |
| Writing the update | Copy, paste, retype carrier codes into plain words | One status report layout, built from the carrier and the services |
| Sending it | When the operator remembers, or when the client asks | At set times, and on every change, from the operator's mailbox |
| Covering for a colleague | Their clients wait until they are back | Auto status keeps sending; the list shows every shipment's next report |
| The other services | Truck, customs and warehouse followed in separate mails | Every service on the order, late steps first, in the same report |
Your hours
What status work costs your team today
Set your own volume and minutes. The figures are an illustration for your company, not a promise or a market average.
- Carrier checks and status e-mails done by Auto status
- Fewer "where is my container?" questions to answer
- Hours back for the shipments that need a person
Hours a year on status updates by hand
Hours a year on questions that stop
Hours back per year
Updates are counted as fully taken over by Auto status. How many client questions stop is your own estimate: set it to zero and the update hours still stand. One full-time employee works about 1,700 hours a year.
Stop answering "where is my container?". Tell them before they ask.
Track & Trace and Auto status run in Logistics ERP, on the orders and carrier services your team already works in. The same status appears live in your Client Portal, on your own domain.
Sources
- Sea-Intelligence, Global Liner Performance report, October 2025: global schedule reliability 61.4%, average delay of late vessel arrivals 4.98 days: Sea-Intelligence press release