> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # 3PL vs Carrier Delay Attribution, DPDLocal > For every late shipment - was the delay at the warehouse (ShipBob picked late) or on the carrier (DPDLocal in transit)? Key Metric. How to read it, why it matter... **Metrics type:** [Cross-Platform Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Shipping & Courier](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) > For every late shipment - was the delay at the warehouse (ShipBob picked late) or on the carrier (DPDLocal in transit)? Key Metric. ## At a glance > For every late DPDLocal parcel, attributes the delay either to the warehouse (ShipBob or other 3PL picked / dispatched the parcel late) or to the carrier (DPDLocal kept the parcel longer in transit than the promised carrier-transit-time). Stops the warehouse-vs-carrier finger-pointing with hard numbers. | | | | ------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | Per late shipment, computes `warehouse_to_dispatch_hrs` (3PL pick → carrier handoff) vs `dispatch_to_delivery_hrs` (carrier handoff → final delivery). Compares each against the promised target; whichever leg overshoots is attributed the delay. | | **Source data** | `dpdlocal.shipment.ship_date` joined to `shipbob.shipment.warehouse_dispatch` on `fulfillment_id`. Generalises to any 3PL connector exposing warehouse-dispatch timestamps. | | **`only_when: has_shipbob_sibling`** | Card only renders when ShipBob (or equivalent 3PL with dispatch timestamps) is connected. | | **Mixed-attribution shipments** | Where both legs overshoot, attribution is by overshoot magnitude (the worse offender takes the row). The minority leg is logged for the [Exception Reasons](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/dpdlocal/exception-reasons) drill-through. | | **Time window** | `30D` | | **Alert trigger** | `carrier-share >60%` of late shipments. Carrier-side becoming the dominant cause is a renegotiation lever; 3PL-dominant is an internal staffing / capacity fix. | | **Roles** | owner, operations | ## Calculation Calculated automatically from your DPDLocal data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading. ## Worked example A UK DTC apparel merchant using ShipBob's UK Bristol DC + DPDLocal NextDay. \~9,000 parcels per month. Reading 12 Mar 26, trailing 30 days, 280 late shipments out of 9,000. | Attribution | Late count | Share | | --------------------------------------- | ---------- | ----- | | Warehouse (ShipBob picked late) | 88 | 31% | | Carrier (DPDLocal in-transit overshoot) | 168 | 60% | | Mixed (both legs late) | 24 | 9% | Card flags **carrier-share at 60%, exactly at the alert threshold**. Three things to notice: 1. **The conversation stops being "ShipBob's fault" or "DPDLocal's fault", both have evidence.** Without this card, the warehouse and carrier teams blame each other; with it, the merchant has hard numbers for both QBRs. 2. **60% carrier-share is the renegotiation trigger.** This is the right time to push DPDLocal for service-credit allowances, route adjustments, or to evaluate a parallel UK courier (Royal Mail Tracked, Evri, Yodel) for postcode areas where DPD is structurally slow. 3. **31% warehouse-share is a staffing or capacity issue at ShipBob.** ShipBob's per-DC capacity ramps for BFCM but commonly stays staffed at the post-peak baseline through January, exposing a gap in February when a brand promotion drives volume. Pair with [SLA Compliance by Warehouse](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shipbob/sla-compliance-by-warehouse). ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why pair | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------- | | [Late Shipments](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/dpdlocal/late-shipments) | The numerator this card splits. | | [On-Time Delivery Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/dpdlocal/on-time-delivery-rate) | The percentage view. | | [SLA Compliance by Warehouse](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shipbob/sla-compliance-by-warehouse) | ShipBob-side detail when warehouse-share is dominant. | | [OTD by Route](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/dpdlocal/otd-by-route) | DPDLocal-side detail when carrier-share is dominant. | | [Exception Reasons](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/dpdlocal/exception-reasons) | The reason mix on each leg. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in DPDLocal's dashboard:** DPDLocal does not produce this attribution split natively, the carrier only sees its own leg. The 3PL produces its own SLA report (ShipBob Merchant Portal → Performance) which shows the warehouse leg. This Vortex IQ card is the only join. **Why your manual calc may differ:** | Reason | Direction | Why | | ------------------------- | --------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Timestamp granularity** | Either | ShipBob's `warehouse_dispatch` event is at the minute; DPDLocal's `firstScan` is at depot scan-in (typically 15 to 60 minutes after handoff). Edge cases at the leg boundary may misattribute by 1 to 2 hours. | | **Multi-leg journeys** | Either | Hub-and-spoke routes with intermediate depot transfers count as one carrier leg in this card; if a delay was at the hub specifically, the card cannot break it out further. | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** | Card | Expected relationship | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [SLA Compliance by Warehouse](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shipbob/sla-compliance-by-warehouse) | The warehouse-side "ground truth"; should reconcile with the warehouse-share of late shipments here. | ## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **The card disappeared. Why?** The `only_when: has_shipbob_sibling` condition went false, ShipBob (or the equivalent 3PL connector) was disconnected or its data flow stalled. Re-check the ShipBob connector health. **My 3PL is not ShipBob. Will the card still work?** Currently the join is hard-coded to ShipBob. The card framework supports any 3PL with dispatch timestamps; adding Veeqo, Mintsoft, ShipHero, or in-house WMS support is a connector roadmap item. If the merchant has a custom WMS export, manual import via the connector field-mapper can populate the equivalent dispatch timestamp. **Carrier-share is at 70% but my account team says they hit 99% transit time. Who's right?** Both can be right. DPDLocal's "transit time" report measures depot-to-delivery; this card measures handoff-to-delivery. The gap is the depot-receive-to-depot-out leg, which DPD often does not surface in their report but counts in this card. Show your account team the `dispatch_to_delivery_hrs` distribution to ground the conversation. **What if the warehouse is fast but the carrier still hits the SLA, does this card still flag warehouse-share?** No. The card only attributes when the parcel is **late overall**. A fast warehouse + slow carrier that still meets the customer-promise contributes nothing to either share. **Should I switch carriers if carrier-share is high?** Maybe, after evaluating. Three steps. (1) Check whether the carrier-share is concentrated in specific UK postcode areas using [OTD by Route](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/dpdlocal/otd-by-route); a regional fix may be faster. (2) Renegotiate before switching, the carrier has commercial leverage when you have evidence. (3) If switching is the decision, run a 4-week parallel test on a subset of postcodes to validate the new carrier on your specific route mix before full migration. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *3PL vs Carrier Delay Attribution* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across DPDLocal and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.