There is something about the last few weeks of the year that makes everyone want a reset. Sales is thinking about new distribution. Operations is thinking about capacity. Finance focuses on cash, margin, and how closely the numbers align with plan. And deductions?

Year-end is when everyone wants something from you. Finance wants clean books. Supply chain wants frozen forecasts. Sales wants that last push to hit the number. Leadership wants a tidy story for the board. Somewhere in the middle of all this, deductions sit in a report tab called “later.”

Advance Ship Notice ( ASN ), Uniform Code Council-128 ( UCC-128 ) carton labels, and distribution center ( DC ) mix decisions decide whether your loads glide through—or get hit with negative acknowledgments ( NAKs ) and compliance chargebacks. Why it spikes in Q4.  More promotions. More split purchase orders ( POs ). More DC reassignments. More ways your plan breaks. Fictional example (for illustration):  A home goods supplier shipped on time, but their ASN posted after gate-

On-Time In-Full ( OTIF ) is simple on paper and brutal in peak. A missed window here, a short-shipped pallet there—and suddenly you’re funding the retailer’s margin via chargebacks. Here’s the part most teams miss: OTIF isn’t won in the warehouse. It’s won in the calendar. A quick reality check.  Across the industry, suppliers routinely see November–December carrier on-time performance ( OTP ) sag as capacity tightens and dwell times creep up. Even modest slippage can stack i