Calculate the cost assigned to each shipment served within a delivery appointment window. The estimate combines reserved labor, vehicle time, receiving or facility capacity, window-specific fees, and late-delivery penalties. It then divides by completed shipments and shows the cost of unused booked capacity, helping distinguish a genuinely expensive window from one whose fixed resources were spread across too little volume.
The main result is the entered window cost spread across completed shipments. The unused-capacity allocation is analytical; it identifies the share associated with unfilled booked volume, not necessarily a recoverable cash expense.
Avoid double counting. For example, do not include dock labor in both the hourly labor inputs and the facility charge unless those are truly separate costs.
Labor costs $648 and vehicle time costs $352. Adding $240 facility cost, $80 fees, and $150 late cost gives $1,470. With 34 completed shipments, cost is $43.24 per shipment. Six of 40 booked slots were unused.
Include penalties or measurable operational costs attributable to the analyzed window, but keep unrelated claims outside the calculation.
It is total window cost multiplied by the unused share of booked capacity, used to show how underfilling affects cost allocation.
This model uses booked capacity to calculate unused capacity. If extra shipments were accepted, update booked or effective capacity to match the actual plan.
Yes, or place it in booking and access fees. Use one category only so the same charge is not counted twice.
Use the same cost boundaries and completion definition, then compare cost per shipment alongside capacity utilization and service outcomes.
| Variable | Meaning | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Hₗ × Rₗ | Reserved labor cost | currency |
| Hᵥ × Rᵥ | Reserved vehicle cost | currency |
| F | Facility, fees, and late cost | currency |
| N | Completed shipments | shipments |
| B − N | Unused booked capacity | shipments |