More and more carriers and third-party logistics companies are going for the gold ... and succeeding. By the time we had finished tallying the results of our 18th annual Quest for Quality survey, a whopping 84 carriers and third-party service providers had received above-average customer satisfaction ratings - earning a spot on our Readers' Choice list of Quest for Quality winners. The large number of winners - 11 more than last year - indicates that carriers are concentrating harder than ever on finding ways to make their shipper customers happy.

It should be noted that just as Olympians can win medals in more than one event, carriers can earn the gold in more than one category. This year, four carriers were double winners.

More than 3,000 readers responded to this year's questionnaire, which asked for their input on five key areas vital to logistics excellence: on-time performance, value, information technology, customer service, and equipment and operations (third parties , however, are measured on a different set of criteria). Twelve separate questionnaires for different transportation or service categories were mailed to magazine readers, all of whom buy transportation or third-party services.

The scores shown in the tables that accompany each of the following articles are weighted scores that measure customer satisfaction in various performance areas. In the simplest terms, higher scores mean higher levels of customer satisfaction. The weighting is determined by the importance that readers attach to specific attributes used for rating the carriers (based on a five-point scale with 5 being the highest ranking). Because readers assign different degrees of importance to these attributes when selecting providers for different tasks, there's a specific attribute value developed for each service category. (See Figure 1. below)

Survey participants then judge their vendors' performance on each of the five attributes, rating them on a scale of one to three (1 = poor, 2 = average, 3 = outstanding). Those scores are averaged for each category and for each vendor. The weighted score is the product of the average importance rating for each attribute in a category multiplied by the vendors' average performance score.

The weighted scores for each vendor are then totaled and the average weighted score for each category is calculated. Vendors receive the "Readers' Choice" designation when their total score meets or surpasses the average total weighted score for their category. However, vendors must receive a minimum number of reader responses to be included in the winners' circle.

As part of the research effort, the Quest for Quality survey asks shippers to rate their core vendors, carriers with which they have long-term partnerships or contractual relationships. We do this because it provides some insight into whether shippers experience higher levels of satisfaction in an established relationship than they do with non-core carriers. (See Figure 2. below)

In general, shippers do bestow higher quality ratings on their core carriers than they do on their non-core carriers. Core carriers on average score at least two points higher than their counterparts. Yet the study this year noted two exceptions to that rule. First, rail shippers reported a slightly higher weighted score for non-core standard rail service (30.48) than for their core carriers (30.29). We should note that the number of rail shippers using core carriers jumped in the past year when the fallout from industry mergers resulted in service problems for a number of shippers. This year, 64 percent of the rail shipper respondents said they used core carriers for standard rail service compared with 38 percent a year ago.

Second, shippers using aircargo carriers indicated no preference for their core carriers in this year's survey. The average weighted score - 31.09 - was the same for both core and non-core aircargo carriers. It should be noted that only 27 percent of the shippers surveyed said that they had core aircargo carriers - which isn't surprising given that forwarders generally control the routing of air cargo.

A closer look at the chart yields other noteworthy findings. Despite the marked improvement over last year's scores, railroads continue to receive low ratings for shipper satisfaction overall. Standard rail service received the lowest score of all categories, with a mark of 30.48.

At the other end of the scale, high-value goods movers earned the highest overall customer satisfaction score, with a grade of 35.09. In second place were industrial heavy-haul carriers, with a score of 34.69. Surface package carriers placed third, with a rating of 34.59.

The high ratings for those three types of carriers reflect their ability to meet shipper demands for both rapid, on-time deliveries and specialized requests. Our 18th annual survey once again demonstrates that many of the gold-medal - winning carriers and third-party service providers are striving to go beyond the call of duty in meeting customer demands.

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