Container Schedule Reliability Falls to 62.6% as Peak Season Bites
Nearly 40% of vessels missed published schedules in June, with delays averaging 5.3 days
Global container schedule reliability declined from 64.5% in May to 62.6% in June, with nearly 40% of vessels missing published schedules and average delays running to 5.3 days.
The spread between carriers remains wide. Maersk led the top 13 liner operators with 77.1% reliability, followed by Hapag-Lloyd at 75.6% and MSC at 72.1%. Only three carriers exceeded 70%. At alliance level the gap is starker still: Gemini Cooperation recorded 93.4% while Premier Alliance managed 53.6%, a difference of forty percentage points on the same trade lanes and in the same weather.
For shippers, vessel punctuality now depends as much on broader market conditions as on the contracted carrier. Andrea Monti, chief executive of Italian logistics company Sogese, has argued that the 2026 peak season is testing operational stability more than capacity. The businesses handling it well are not moving significantly higher volumes; they are reducing last-minute logistics adjustments, building inventory ahead of demand and maintaining consistent operational rhythms.
The gap between available capacity and reliably predictable capacity is shaping the season more than headline slot numbers. Early procurement, longer inventory cycles, vessel diversions and carrier strategies have together spread freight demand across the year rather than concentrating it in a defined peak.
That shift has changed where the pressure lands. Warehouse utilisation cycles are lengthening, in-transit dwell times are increasing, and transport plans require constant updating. Rolling demand leaves planning teams with little recovery time between cycles, forcing operators to sustain high operational intensity over extended periods instead of managing short surges.
Rates have moved with the disruption. The Drewry World Container Index reached $4,639 per 40-foot container on 9 July, its highest level since September 2024. With demand acting as the defining variable of the 2026 peak season, shippers and logistics providers are recalibrating around reliability and operational stability rather than around headline slot cost.
