With growing demand for expedited transportation services, many ground and air carriers are offering on-time guarantees these days. But Pilot Air Freight, a Lima, Pa.-based airfreight forwarder, says its "Platinum Guarantee" service is different from competitors' services.

According to Pilot, Platinum Guarantee is the only guaranteed airfreight service that does not require customers to file a refund claim if a shipment does not arrive on schedule. Instead, the forwarder will simply not issue an invoice if a shipment does not meet its promised delivery time.

Performance standards for each Platinum Guarantee shipment are negotiated individually. Based on those discussions with the customer, Pilot writes up a contract that specifies the service parameters and conditions as well as the freight charges. The forwarder then submits it to the customer, who signs and returns it, explains Frank Perri, Pilot's senior vice president of marketing.

How can a non–asset-based freight forwarder that does not control the aircraft confidently offer a service guarantee? "There has to be a fair amount of prior communication before we commit," says Perri. "We have to determine if we can offer [that customer] the guarantee first."

After a successful trial run in several test markets, Platinum Guarantee is now available nationwide. According to Perri, the current on-time delivery rate is 98 percent.