Peak season didn’t create the usual congestion this year. In fact, retail and CPG facilities were turning trucks about 11% faster than their 2025 average by October, even with slightly higher load volumes.

When you see dwell times improve during the busiest shipping window, it’s a sign that shippers tightened their upstream processes to offset downstream cost pressures like parcel surcharges and uneven carrier capacity.

On-time delivery improved, but only because planners worked harder behind the scenes

Late deliveries fell to their lowest level of the year in October, but that improvement wasn’t accidental. Nearly three in ten loads had at least one appointment change during the month, which tells us planners are actively reshuffling schedules to keep freight on time. The headline looks like better reliability, but the real story is how much calendar churn it took to hold service steady.

This year’s peak was shaped by timing shifts

Retailers and CPG companies effectively created a smoother peak by front-loading shipments over the summer. That early push set them up for a quieter, more controlled start to Q4, with sub-130-minute dwell times in both September and October. It’s a very different pattern from the classic October crunch, and it lines up with what we’ve seen in the broader market as companies adjusted to tariff timing and shifting carrier dynamics.

FourKites Data:

All figures from FourKites’ analysis of retail and CPG shippers, Jan–Oct 2025

October facility dwell: ~128 minutes
2025 average dwell: ~145 minutes

October late deliveries: ~14.5% (lowest of the year)
2025 average late deliveries: ~15.5%

October reschedules: ~29% of loads
2025 average reschedules: ~26%

Volume pattern: May–August above yearly average; September–October stable volumes with best facility efficiency