Selecting and Managing a Third Party Logistics Provider

What's Inside

“Today’s 3PL is not your grandfather’s 3PL. Third party logistics used to mean transportation and warehousing, but now encompasses outsourcing services for nearly everything.”

The U.S. 3PL market is vast, with gross revenues exceeding $150 billion and growing at an annual rate of 5-8%. While this growth rate is slower than the rapid expansion seen between 2000 and 2008, the landscape of third party logistics (3PL) has undergone significant transformation over the past decades.

Historically, 3PL companies were associated with basic transportation and warehousing functions. Today, 3PLs offer many solutions that go well beyond traditional logistics services, including customs brokerage, freight forwarding, and more specialized functions that cater to the complex needs of modern businesses and global supply chains.

In short, the 3PL has become more strategic and all-encompassing. It is critical to recognize this shift and adapt accordingly to leverage third party logistics providers as service vendors and strategic partners in your supply chain organization.

Selecting the right 3PL is a strategic decision that can significantly affect a company’s supply chain efficiency and overall business performance. The white paper outlines a systematic approach to selecting a 3PL as well as supply chain best practices for managing the relationship once chosen and onboarded.

Download this white paper to explore:

• Helpful terminology and historical information regarding the evolution of 3PLs
• Valuable insights into the state of the 3PL industry
• Strategic considerations involved in selecting a third party logistics provider
• A tangible checklist tool for evaluating 3PL candidates
• A scorecard for how to measure overall success
• Supply chain best practices for managing a 3PL company

For more in-depth, industry-focused white papers from the Global Supply Chain Institute (GSCI) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, visit this web page. Recent papers produced by the Advanced Supply Chain Collaborative, an initiative of GSCI, engage industry experts and UT faculty to explore and report on advanced concepts in supply chain management and innovation, including supply chain agility, last-mile and reverse logistics, and more.

Who This White Paper is Primarily For: Supply Chain Managers, Supply Chain Planners, Corporate CEOs, Supply Chain Professionals, Chief Supply Chain Officers, Chief Procurement Officers, Supply Chain Leaders, and Supply Chain Students