MOL adds rail connections to performance metrics

   The liner carrier MOL (America) said Thursday it has added another metric to its list of monthly key performance indicators.
   The line will report on a new category called “missed vessel connection due to rail error ratio.”
   On a monthly basis, MOL will release the results, which measure the percentage of containers that in-gate prior to published intermodal inland cut-offs for all U.S. West Coast strings, but miss the vessel connection due to a rail failure.
   “We understand that realistically there will always be a few misses, but MOL considers any miss of the vessel connection to be a serious problem,” said Richard Craig, senior vice president of operations. “We believe that our standard is a very bold one for the industry but that it is an achievable result based on our strong relationship with our railroad partners.”
   MOL’s goal is to achieve a ratio of less than 1 percent. It reported that the ratio for April at exactly 1 percent, after achieving 0.8 percent in March and 1.1 percent in February.
   Earlier this week, MOL reported its latest set of monthly metrics, which showed them meeting or exceeding internal goals on all but two of 10 indicators, including truck-turn times, lost call percentage, and documentation accuracy, among others.
   The only ones to fall below the company’s desired thresholds were U.S.-to-Asia documentation accuracy, which was 98.3 percent, and Asia-to-U.S. documentation accuracy, at 98.1 percent, compared to a goal of 99.5 percent in both directions. – Eric Johnson