Performance Measurement Systems (PMSs) have gained increasing prominence in the corporate and academic environments, becoming an essential tool for operations management. However, there is still a lack of PMSs studies contemplating the automotive industry, particularly, in specific links of its supply chain such as those associated with vehicle terminals in port areas. The academic literature also lacks more studies with empirical evidence on the applicability of PMS, which mostly focuses on case study methodologies or surveys. Within this context, the objective of this dissertation is to design a PMS, focusing on the set of performance indicators, for the operations of a vehicle s terminal located in the port of Rio de Janeiro. This dissertation uses the empirical action-research method and presents the lessons learned in the design of the PMS, which culminated in the development of an experimental Maple Panel, supplied with six months of real data. The PMS provided support to top management for decision making, in addition to corroborating key issues in the literature regarding, like highlighting the importance of support from top management, mitigating the effects of the limitations of information systems, clarity and simplicity in the design of SMD in order to avoid excessive performance indicators in the system.