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80% of shippers lack full supply chain visibility. What 200+ global shippers said they need from carriers.
Most companies shipping freight globally say real-time shipment tracking is now a hard requirement for working with a carrier. Most of those same companies also admit they do not have it. That contradiction is the supply chain visibility gap, and a 2022 survey of 200+ global shippers put numbers to it for the first time at scale.
This post breaks down what the survey actually found, what the data means for carriers, 3PLs, and logistics providers today, and why the freight visibility gap has not closed in the years since.
In October and November 2021, UK-based logistics research firm Transport Intelligence (Ti) surveyed 200+ global shippers on behalf of supply chain visibility platform project44. The goal was to understand what criteria shippers use when selecting carriers, and what operational problems they face day to day.
One thing worth noting upfront: project44 commissioned this research and sells supply chain visibility software. Ti conducted the survey independently, which strengthens the methodology, but the sponsor relationship is worth knowing when reading the conclusions.
The sample skewed large. Ninety percent of respondents had annual revenues above $500 million. These are retailers and manufacturers with established procurement teams and mature carrier relationships. Their answers reflect real buying behaviour at enterprise scale.
The headline number is stark. Only 20.2% of shippers said their carriers provide real-time freight visibility across all modes and all regions. Another 33.2% have partial coverage, meaning some modes in some regions. That leaves roughly half of all shippers operating with no reliable view of their shipments in transit.
The demand side is equally clear. More than 57.4% of respondents said real-time visibility is a hard prerequisite for carrier selection. When it comes to air freight, that figure climbs to 68.4%. For ocean, 62%. Even trucking, historically the mode with the least tracking infrastructure, sits at 57.1%.
The gap between demand and delivery is the defining problem. Shippers are telling the market what they need. The market has not yet supplied it consistently.
The survey reported average on-time delivery performance from primary carriers at 82.9%. Retailers saw slightly better results at 84.4%, while manufacturers averaged 81.6%. Roughly 1 in 6 shipments does not arrive on time.
The threshold at which shippers begin evaluating new carriers is 71.7% OTD. There is a gap between actual carrier performance and the switching threshold. That gap explains why underperforming carriers retain business longer than the freight visibility data would suggest. Shippers tolerate lateness to a point. What they cannot absorb is lateness without warning, and that is precisely what shipment tracking addresses.
The survey ran during one of the most disrupted periods in recent freight history. 60.4% of respondents cited pandemic-related closures and port congestion as significant factors causing supply chain disruption in the prior six months.
Driver shortage ranked as the top ongoing operational issue. Rising freight rates ranked second. Real-time freight visibility does not directly solve either problem. What it does is give shippers time to respond before a delay compounds into a production or inventory crisis downstream.
Only 15.3% of shippers book freight through a digital platform. The majority still book directly with carriers under contract (38.7%), through 3PLs or freight forwarders (24.3%), or on the spot market (21.7%).
Digital freight platforms have made significant investments in growth, yet direct carrier relationships remain the dominant booking channel. Carriers who invest in supply chain visibility and carrier performance tools hold a concrete advantage in those contract negotiations. Visibility is now a selection criterion at the negotiating table, not a feature discussed after the contract is signed.
The data from this survey was published in 2022. The gap it described remains open. Three structural reasons explain why.
First, visibility requires every carrier in a shipment chain to share data. A single ocean shipment can touch a drayage trucker, a port terminal, a shipping line, a destination terminal, and a final-mile carrier. Each handoff is a potential blind spot. Connecting all of those touchpoints into a coherent real-time view is an integration problem that no single platform has fully solved at global scale.
Second, the companies demanding freight visibility most loudly are also the companies with the most negotiating leverage. Large shippers with $500M+ in annual revenue can make shipment tracking a contract requirement. Smaller shippers often cannot. The gap therefore persists longest where shippers have the least bargaining power.
Third, tracking infrastructure costs fall on carriers. For carriers operating on thin margins in a volatile rate environment, visibility investment competes with other capital priorities. Until shippers systematically enforce the prerequisite at the procurement stage, the commercial pressure to invest remains inconsistent.
Whether you are a carrier trying to win more shipper business, a 3PL evaluating your tech stack, or a logistics sales team trying to reach companies actively dealing with supply chain visibility problems, the survey points to three questions worth asking.
Who are you trying to reach, and how large are they? The shippers making freight visibility a hard prerequisite are predominantly large enterprises. Smaller manufacturers and retailers may want it but lack the leverage to enforce it. Match your message to the actual visibility maturity of the segment you are targeting.
What transport mode does your customer primarily use? Air freight shippers showed the highest prerequisite rate at 68.4%. If you are selling to air and ocean shippers, supply chain visibility is not a differentiator. It is a baseline requirement. The conversation starts there.
What is the actual cost of a late shipment for your customer? Shippers only start switching carriers when OTD drops below 71.7%. What tips the decision is not the delay itself. It is the lack of warning that turns a manageable disruption into a downstream production or sales problem. Shipment tracking addresses that specific failure mode.
For more context on how logistics technology supports carrier selection and shipper relationships, see our guide to the 6 best TMS software for logistics companies in 2026 and our breakdown of CargoWise alternatives for freight forwarders.
What percentage of shippers require real-time visibility from carriers?
According to the Transport Intelligence and project44 survey, 57.4% of shippers said real-time visibility is a prerequisite for carrier selection. The rate is higher by mode: 68.4% for air freight and 62% for ocean.
How many shippers actually have full supply chain visibility today?
Only 20.2% of the 234 shippers surveyed said their carriers provide real-time freight visibility across all modes and regions. Another 33.2% have partial shipment tracking coverage. Roughly half have significant blind spots.
What is average on-time delivery performance for supply chain carriers?
The survey reported an average OTD rate of 82.9% across primary carriers. Retailers averaged 84.4% and manufacturers averaged 81.6%. Shippers begin evaluating alternative carriers when OTD drops below 71.7%.
What were the biggest supply chain disruptions shippers reported?
60.4% of respondents cited pandemic-related closures and port congestion as significant disruptors in the prior six months. Driver shortage ranked as the top ongoing operational issue, followed by rising freight rates.
How do most shippers book freight?
38.7% book directly with carriers under contract. 24.3% use 3PLs or freight forwarders. 21.7% use the spot market. 15.3% book through a digital freight platform.
Why does the supply chain visibility gap persist if shippers say they require it?
Three structural reasons: visibility requires every carrier in a shipment chain to share data, which is an unsolved integration problem at scale; smaller shippers lack the bargaining power to enforce it as a contract requirement; and tracking infrastructure costs fall on carriers operating on thin margins.
Is this survey data still relevant in 2026?
The survey was conducted in late 2021 and published in February 2022. The structural dynamics it identified have not meaningfully changed. Freight visibility demand has continued to grow, and the gap between what shippers need and what carriers deliver remains a live issue across the industry.
If you sell to shippers, logistics companies, or freight teams, understanding where the visibility gap is felt most acutely is the first step. Reaching the right companies at the right time is the harder part.
Ubico gives logistics-focused outreach teams access to 70 million+ global shipment records, letting you identify shippers by trade lane, carrier, import volume, and commodity. Instead of generic contact lists, you start from real supply chain data and build outreach around what companies actually move.
Where a TMS manages your current book of business, Ubico builds the next one.
See how logistics companies use Ubico to find new shippers.
See our full logistics glossary for more terms: https://www.ubico.io/logistics-glossary
Sources: Transport Intelligence (Ti) and project44, survey of 234 global shippers conducted October to November 2021, published February 2022. All statistics verified via project44.com blog post dated March 16, 2022. Verified May 2026.
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