  Pinning and creep determine the current--voltage characteristic of a type II
superconductor and thereby its potential for technological applications. The
recent development of strong pinning theory provides us with a tool to assess a
superconductor's electric properties in a quantitative way. Motivated by the
observation of typical excess-current characteristics and field-scaling of
critical currents, here, we analyze current--voltage characteristics measured
on 2H-NbSe$_2$ and $a$-MoGe type II superconductors within the setting provided
by strong pinning theory. The experimentally observed shift and rounding of the
voltage-onset is consistent with the predictions of strong pinning in the
presence of thermal fluctuations. We find the underlying parameters determining
pinning and creep and discuss their consistency.
