Saia Inc. on Monday, March 7, announced it is launching a new Customer Service Indicator (CSI) for exception-free delivery. The less-than-truckload company says this newest metric will measure the percent of shipments that are delivered without a noted exception. Saia says its indicators, launched more than a decade ago, have been the basis for the company’s ongoing service improvement record, and that the addition of the exception-free delivery metric is the latest development in the evolution of the program, which is built on customer expectations.
“Saia’s success is our ability to provide solid service to our customers based on the areas they feel are key to their needs,” says Sally Buchholz, vice president of marketing and customer service for the Johns Creek, Ga.-based company. “While our CSIs measure Saia’s performance, they also are a valuable tool our customers can use to analyze their shipping results. It really is a true partnership between our shippers and us.”
Saia says the CSI program is the result of extensive research during which the company asked customers what information they needed to make their transportation buying decisions. Based on their feedback, the company developed the CSIs, which measure the key metrics customers said were most important to them. In addition to exception-free deliveries, the CSIs include pick-up performance, on-time delivery, claims settled within 30 days, claims-free shipments and invoice accuracy.
At the end of the fourth quarter, Saia posted 97.1 percent on-time service and 99.6 percent pick-up performance. Saia’s exception-free delivery performance for February 2011 was 98.6 percent.
