3PL, or Third-Party Logistics and Supply Chain Management, encompasses the efficient and timely moving and storing of your products . Depending on the type of product you manufacture, distribute, and/or sell, the specifics of how your products are handled can be very different. Ambient temperature, protect from freezing, sub-zero....all play a role in storing and transporting your products. We have experience in all types of product handling requirements and multiple fulfillment models. 

The first 3PLs were intermodal marketing companies that accepted loads from shippers and tendered them to railroads, becoming a third party in the contract between shippers and carriers, as defined by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) glossary.

 

Today, any company that offers some form of logistics services for hire is known as a 3PL. This includes facilitating the movement of parts and materials from suppliers to manufacturers, as well as finished products from manufacturers to distributors and retailers. A 3PL may, or may not, have its own assets, such as trucks and warehouses. In some cases, the role of 3PL and broker overlap but typically a broker is used primarily to engage trucking for a specific shipment. A 3PL may act as a broker or use brokers to move clients' freight.