You're right, by default the characteristics are ordered by name. We added a new option to select whether to display them order by id or by name with next version which we will publish tomorrow.
The dimensions in the product information are used for shipping volume restrictions. They are not currently displayed on the product page.
You can edit the product page code to display them:
go to the menu Display->Views and edit the file show of the view product. There, you can add code to display the dimensions. For example:
echo 'Width: '.$this->element->product_width.$this->element->product_dimension_unit;