Why a Profitable 3PL Will Matter More Than Ever in 2026

Q. Why does profitability matter more when choosing a 3PL in 2026?

A. Over the past few years, there has been a noticeable shift, not just in the 3PL space, but across industries. Profitability took a backseat to market share for a while. That worked fine when capital was cheap, but that’s no longer the case.

For 3PLs, profitability isn’t easy. This is a capital-intensive business that requires ongoing investment in people, facilities, systems, and equipment. It’s important to remember that a 3PL’s financial stability directly relates to its operational reliability.

You don’t want to be 18 months into a relationship and suddenly realize your logistics partner is struggling to operate or cutting corners just to stay afloat.

Q. What are the real risks of partnering with a financially unstable 3PL?

A. A well-understood concern is inconsistent order fulfillment due to a lack of staffing, deferred equipment maintenance, and reluctance to invest in system upgrades. Perhaps most obvious, if a 3PL goes out of business, its merchants could face extended periods with orders being shut off and sales coming to a standstill.

Also lurking is the impact of the 3PL not being able to provide merchants with flexibility. Merchants are dynamic, both with growing volumes and changing requirements over time: new SKUs and packaging needs, additional nodes, retail compliance, etc.

To handle this effectively, the 3PL needs to be both thoughtful and able to deploy extra resources to adapt quickly to the merchants’ evolving needs.

An underfunded 3PL will struggle to provide the resources necessary to develop scalable solutions that meet each merchant’s specific needs. Over time, this will undermine growth.

Q. What should companies look for in a 3PL?

A. At a minimum, brands should look for indicators of stability. A 3PL partnership isn’t something you should have to rethink every year.

Look for fundamentals. What’s their ownership structure? Do they have a track record of sustainable growth?

At WSI, we’ve operated as a privately held 3PL for 60 years. Our CEO jokes about always carrying more cash than necessary, but the logic is straightforward. That approach has allowed us to weather six decades of challenges and growth. That kind of stability translates directly into operational reliability for our customers.