What is the difference between a Delivery Timeline and Transit Time? 

Delivery Timeline 

The delivery timeline refers to the timeframe that starts when an order is acknowledged by the merchant and ends when the customer receives the package.   

This includes the time it takes to prepare the package for shipment in the warehouse and includes the time the package might spend in customs. It also includes transit time. 

FlavorCloud reports and tracks three events in a delivery timeline:  

• In Progress: The shipment is being prepared and has not been given to the carrier.
• In Transit: The carrier has received the shipment and is moving through their network.
• Delivered: The shipment has been delivered to the destination.

Transit Time 

Transit time refers to when a carrier is transporting a package after it leaves the warehouse until it reaches its destination. 

Transit times are estimated at checkout and vary based on factors nobody can control, like weather, civil unrest, and events that impact local carrier capacity.  However, a frequent source of transit delays that merchants can minimize is customs issues. Customs delays can be minimized with:

• adequate product descriptions,
• accurate customs valuation, and
• accurate HS code classification. 

While a carrier has custody of a package, they will often generate tracking events that show how the package is moving through their network.  

These events can be viewed using the shipment’s tracking link.