Field notes
Comparing Pearl River Delta feeder options with limited data
Pearl River Delta feeders into Hong Kong rarely give you a complete, comparable dataset. Barge schedules, trucking windows, and terminal cut-offs sit in different formats.
Align on three measures before you open a spreadsheet: door-to-berth time, berth-to-Hong Kong transfer, and the share of shipments that miss the next ocean sailing. Everything else is optional colour.
When sample sizes differ, compare medians and the upper quartile rather than averages. A few extreme holds will dominate the mean on short samples.
Ask each option what happens on public holidays in Guangdong and Hong Kong. Feeder performance often diverges more on those weeks than on a quiet Tuesday.
Present findings as ranges with caveats, not as a ranked league table. Commercial teams make better routing choices when they see the conditions behind each number.