TOP 10
PROVIDERS OF
3PL EXCELLENCE

 

 

C.H. Robinson
 

 BAX/Schenker

It's that time of year again  --  the culmination of our annual Top 10 3PL Excellence Awards survey. This year the responses just kept pouring in. You told us how your 3PL provider stacks up to the competition and we listened.

 

It has become our yearly tradition  --  you vote, we compile the results, and the best 3PL providers come out on top.

Each year we conduct this survey to recognize the 3PL providers that serve your needs well, in the hopes of encouraging more of the same. To the readers who voted this year, thank you for your participation. If you did not voice your opinion, why not give us the benefit of your experience and place your vote for 2008?

 

As we say each year, don't kill the messenger if your favorite third-party logistics provider didn't make the list this time around  --  vote for them for next year's awards at http://www.inboundlogistics.com/top10

The Top 10 3PL Awards are based on faxed, mailed, and emailed ballots received December 2006 to June 2007. Readers nominated more than 391 companies this year and more than 4,000 votes (some were disqualified), further proof of the continuing competition among outsourced logistics providers. The companies that received the most votes are listed at left.

 

To help you put the results in perspective, check out the respondents' profile below

 

About the Survey  
More than 4,000 readers  --  from transportation managers to CEOs, from small retailers to Fortune 10 companies  --  cast ballots for this year's Top 10 3PL Excellence Awards. Nearly half the votes were directed toward 20 front-running 3PLs, resulting in a wire-to-wire finish  --  and given the parity of this year's race, two ties.

 

This year's voting block represents a definitive cross-section of global outsourcers, with manufacturers leading the way,  and the retail/wholesale/distributor and services/government/health care sectors bringing up the middle and rear.

As logistics theory and practice climb the corporate ladder, our readers are fast becoming industry leaders. This is reflected in the voting demographics --  corporate management represents 39 percent of respondents, followed by logistics (22 percent), transportation (20 percent), and supply chain management (18 percent).

Equally impressive, readers put their money where their mouths are, with 53 percent boasting logistics budgets surpassing more than $10 million annually  --  including 12 percent with logistics spend exceeding $50 million. Twenty-seven percent of respondents report logistics expenditures between $1 and $10 million, followed by 20 percent reporting a logistics budget topping out at $1 million.

The diverse logistics needs of our readers, spanning from motor freight services to dock equipment, gives further credibility to their appraisal of what makes 3PLs excellent.

Although the survey is not an encyclopedia of 3PL providers, it is an important differentiator in identifying leading 3PLs. Their clients  --  our readers  --  are the most well-informed buyers of 3PL services in the world.

Let us know what you think about this year's Top 10 3PL list. Send an email to: editor@inboundlogistics.com