Articles

3PL

Why Should You Attend Connections 2022?

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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Get 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

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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Marty Wadle

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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Leveraging 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?

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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Keith Biondo

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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