Articles
3PL

Chemical Logistics: Critical Challenges Drive Creativity
Chemical shippers and their partners keep critical shipments moving safely and efficiently—refining their strategies and getting creative despite considerable challenges. Here’s how leading providers formulate solutions for the chemical industry.
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What Does the Labor Shortage Mean for Your Supply Chain?
Labor shortages exacerbate supply chain issues, creating a perfect storm for disruption. Here’s why it’s happening and what to do about it.
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Why Should You Attend Connections 2022?
Connections 2022, an SMC³ event, offers collaborative supply chain intelligence, covering the year’s most pertinent topics and trend forecasting for the rest of the year. Take a second to think about everything that’s changed in the supply chain over the past two years. Dramatic changes in automation, driver shortages, dynamic pricing, new legislation and regulations, […]
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10 Tips: Choosing a 3PL
Selecting a third-party logistics (3PL) provider is a strategic business decision so treat it that way. Your 3PL should be a catalyst for producing unmatched retail logistics performance levels and total supply chain optimization. Here’s how to choose the right partner.
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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.
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