Volume & Throughput Inputs
The calculator opens with two fields that set the scale of your operation:
Daily Parcel Volume
Your average packages sorted per operating day, across all shifts combined. Defaults to 5,000 -- adjust to your actual daily average, not your peak day, for a realistic year-round estimate.
Operating Days per Month
Defaults to 26. Most operations fall in the 22-26 day range depending on whether you run 5, 6, or 7 days per week.
Labor Cost Inputs
Four fields capture your current labor cost accurately -- not just wages:
Current Sorting Staff
Total headcount dedicated to sorting across all shifts. Default is 6 -- this is the number that drops to 2 with FlowSort S15.
Average Hourly Wage
Default $22/hour. Use your actual blended rate if staff are paid differently across shifts or experience levels.
Shift Length (Hours)
Default 9 hours. Set to match your actual shift schedule.
Benefits & Overhead Rate
Payroll taxes, insurance, and benefits on top of wages -- default 28%, with a typical range of 25-35%. This is the field most DIY estimates skip, and it meaningfully changes the real labor cost.
Error & Accuracy Inputs
Two fields capture the hidden cost most manual ROI estimates leave out entirely:
Manual Mis-Sort Rate
Default 5%, with an industry average range of 4-6%. If you don't track this today, 5% is a defensible starting estimate.
Cost per Mis-Sort
Default $4.50 -- includes re-routing labor, customer service time, and any carrier penalty fees. FlowSort S15 is modeled at 99.9% accuracy (0.1% error rate) in every calculation.
Why Error Cost Matters This Much
Error cost = daily parcels × error rate × cost per mis-sort × operating days. At real-world volumes, this line item is often comparable in size to the labor savings line -- leaving it out is the single biggest reason DIY ROI estimates come in low.
Choosing a Pricing Model
The calculator compares your numbers against all three SortLease pricing models side by side:
Pay-Per-Parcel
$0.10/parcel, no monthly fee, with volume discounts at 3,000+, 10,000+, and 25,000+/day. No investment to recover means positive ROI from day one.
Rental
From $3,000/month. Typical payback of 6-10 months for operations sorting 3,000-10,000 parcels/day.
Purchase
From $100,000. Longer payback (14-24 months typical) but no ongoing monthly cost once paid off.
There's no universally "best" choice -- it depends on your capital situation and how confident you are in your volume projections. The calculator's side-by-side comparison is built specifically to make that tradeoff visible rather than requiring three separate calculations.
Reading Your Results
Once your inputs are set, the calculator shows: monthly net savings, annual savings, payback period, your current cost per parcel, and SortLease's cost per parcel ($0.10 baseline) -- plus a payback comparison chart across all three pricing models so you can see the tradeoff at a glance.
For a typical DSP operation sorting 5,000 parcels/day, documented annual net savings on the rental model land in the $43,000-$72,000 range. Your specific number depends heavily on your current staff count, wage rate, and error rate -- which is exactly why running your own numbers through the calculator matters more than relying on an average.
Frequently Asked Questions
Run Your Own Numbers Now
Free, no email required -- see your specific savings across all three pricing models in under a minute.