Articles
3PL
3PL Partnership Turns Up the Heat
BBQGrills.com, which offers premium grilling and outdoor kitchen products, launched in 2019 and quickly found a ready market. While its growth was largely a benefit, it also meant the company soon needed additional support in various functions, including transportation.
Read MoreGet into Outsourcing
Logistics outsourcing to third-party logistics (3PL) providers has been on the rise, and it won’t likely slow anytime soon, says a recent Gartner survey, with 66% of logistics leaders increasing their outsourcing budget in 2021 and 74% set to increase their budgets in the next two years. At the same time, nearly two-thirds of logistics […]
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4 Trends for 3PLs in 2022
Order volumes grew for 79% of third-party logistics (3PL) providers in 2021, but that growth was tempered by inventory availability and disruptions that cost the U.S. economy $228 billion, says a report from 3PL Central. Disruptions, technology innovations, and consumer demands will persist in 2022. These are the four key trends impacting 3PLs in the […]
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Shippers Stock Up
As the pandemic continues to impact supply chains, retailers go shopping for third-party logistics providers to gain end-to-end control.
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Taking Stock of Inventory Management
Empty store shelves during the pandemic drove many companies to new forecasting tools, added 3PL services, and increased collaboration to inform inventory management.
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Bright Ideas: 3PLs Manage Growth Through Innovation
By thinking creatively and embracing new solutions, third-party logistics providers support shippers through demand surges, labor shortages, cost increases, and capacity constraints.
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3PL Leverages LoadDex to Win More Loads and Grow Its Business
LoadDex from Logistical Labs lets Sunset Transportation take a strategic focus when making pricing decisions, improving customer opportunities and fueling year-over-year growth.
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Choose a 3PL with a Culture and Vision that Match Your Own
Transportation has often been considered a commodity. Equipment, fuel, software, and wages are all very similar from a cost perspective. A 3PL’s culture can be a competitive advantage. Q: Why does culture matter? A: Today, cost is just one of many factors to consider when selecting a 3PL. A low-cost provider may produce short-term savings […]
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Don’t Say No and Never Give Up
Lisa Mernin is director of operations with ADS, Inc., a military equipment and tactical gear supplier.
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3PLs Drive Logistics IT Solutions
Massive shifts in consumer expectations and e-commerce acceleration signal a new direction and new challenges. Shippers are turning to 3PLs’ technology expertise to meet service expectations in an ever-changing marketplace.
Read MoreLeveraging 3PLs to Ease COVID Business Growing Pains
As the COVID-19 pandemic swept the nation, a second and unexpected problem emerged along with it: A shortage of toilet paper. Panic-buying and hoarding left store shelves empty. New deliveries routinely were sold out within minutes. And toilet paper manufacturers, who had long ago leaned out their operations in an effort to maximize profit, found […]
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What is the secret to a successful shipper/3PL partnership?
Three fundamental pillars define a successful partnership: a direct application programming interface (API) integration, a shared target customer, and a partnership mentality focused on solutions. When any one of these pillars falter, the client suffers and that is unacceptable. As a 3PL, it’s our responsibility to help clients mitigate pain points and enable growth.
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Catch Me When I Fall
A trust fall is a team-building exercise where the one doing the falling willingly trusts that those standing behind will catch them before they hit bottom. We chose the trust fall as an apt theme for our annual third-party logistics edition. Whether you voluntarily fall or are shoved by business realities—pandemic, labor shortages, remote workforces, […]
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3PLs Have Your Back
Shippers trust their third-party logistics partners will be there for them—no matter what the business conditions.
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Top 10 3PLs Readers’ Choice Excellence Awards
These third-party logistics providers have earned your trust—and your votes—with their consistency and customer service.
Read More2021 Inbound Logistics Perspectives: 3PL Market Research Report
Our 16th annual 3PL market research report reveals the current state of the union between shippers and their logistics service partners.
Read More2021 Top 100 3PLs
When your enterprise faces supply chain and logistics challenges, these partners won’t let you fall. In alphabetical order, here are the 100 third-party logistics providers deemed best of the best by Inbound Logistics editors.
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3PL Outsourcing Beyond the Initial Goals
RedStone understands that cost savings are just a part of each client relationship; a 3PL must provide more if the relationship is to withstand the demands of an ever-changing supply chain.
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3PLs in Agriculture: Know the Roots of the Industry to Make Your Impact
From LTL and dedicated route service to seasonal and year-round storage, 3PLs need to be well-versed in the space to meet the specialized needs of agricultural companies.
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Supply Chain Continuous Improvement Requires Collaboration, Trust, and Tolerance for Failure
Q: How can a 3PL affect continuous improvement of their partners’ supply chains? A: Ruan’s approach to effective continuous improvement (CI) is centered around creating value within our partners’ businesses. CI begins with a clear understanding of each unique supply chain and baseline performance measures. Although tools and techniques vary, the first steps involve analyzing […]
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