Mention "airfreight" and your accountant’s ears perk up immediately. The operations manager wants to know what operational mishap occurred that would require using airfreight… and the owner wants to know who's going to pay for it.

The short answer is sure. If you’re willing to negotiate your own pricing on each individual shipment with a carrier you have likely never used before and assume the risk for the actions of a driver you have never used.

In a recent blog, we stressed the importance of making the effort to become a "preferred shipper” to ensure equipment availability in a shrinking equipment market.  If you are a shipper relying on for-hire carriers, or a 3PL, you certainly should be aware of the looming issues conspiring to make it more expensive and more difficult to get your goods delivered. The one bright spot in the industry are falling fuel prices over the last 12 months. However, while this lone bit of positive news is certainly welcome, it will have little effect on the equipment availability issue that is spurred by several factors: a serious driver shortage, a lack of interest in young people to take on a driving career, ever-increasing government regulation and tightening capital markets. 

Challenges abound in today's Logistics environment.  Shippers have to adapt or sink. Businesses will be faced with the choice of doing things the way they’ve always done them, or assessing their business processes and evaluating partnerships in the hopes of doing them better.  63% of shippers cite cutting transport costs as their biggest challenge. This is followed by business process improvement (32%) and improving customer service (31%).

Most larger businesses can easily afford to manage their own trucks and drivers. As a leader of your company’s logistics function, you know all-too-well that simple pickup and drop off does not add up to a complete 3PL logistics solution.

Skill, connections, leadership, negotiation leverage and extensive industry knowledge represent much of what your business looks for in 3PL logistics companies, but that’s not everything. Actually, none of those great attributes are worth a nickel if you don’t have a successful partnership and great communication.

Manufacturing companies spend a great deal of time looking for ways to beat their competition in new and innovative ways, whether it is through new manufacturing processes, better products or improved supply chain management. Manufacturing industry supply chain management can be difficult as you try to keep costs low and deliver goods and services to the customer in a timely manner. Fortunately, third-party logistics (3PL) providers offer many services that will improve a manufacturers’ supply chain.  

3PL companies strive to minimize transport costs and maximize the abilities of meeting their clients’ most demanding logistics needs. When it comes to logistics, the type of products to be transported, the method of transportation and the distance of transportation determines your ability to derive value from working with a third party logistics company. The efficiency of your supply chain is dependent on the level of efficiency of each component in the supply chain. In any company, you should be able to measure performance; the easiest way to determine whether the process is adding value to your company or not. Benchmarks should be set to determine the acceptable limits of performance given certain business environments.

What is a 3PL?

A 3PL (third-party logistics) provider is a provider of outsourced logistics services. 

Selecting the right 3PL provider for your business means more than just selecting a company that can do what you need at a price you can afford. When you allow another company to manage your logistics, you’re making that outsider a part of the very heart of your business—a decision that makes excellent returns when you choose well, but might prove disastrous should you choose poorly. Today, we’ll help you understand five key factors to consider when selecting a 3PL provider: Experience, Modernity, Connections, Services and Customization.

When government regulations come into the scene, no industry is spared, including the transportation industry. Many regulations pertaining to this industry will bring about dramatic and significant changes in the coming years. It is believed the new logistics/transportation laws being enforced will affect the bottom line of carriers, truckers, consignees and shippers. Depending on the end cost, they may even affect consumers down the line.