Thousands of businesses across the United States use third-party logistics, or 3PL, to move freight from warehouses, factories, farms, plants and production facilities to stores and consumer-facing locations. As an enterprise grows, it needs laser focus – but branching out into logistics and shipping can be a big drain on resources. For most businesses, that’s the primary reason to hire a 3PL company.
However, there are several other reasons to hire a 3PL company – and here are three of the most important.
3 Reasons to Hire a 3PL Company
3PL companies are outside parties that can free up time and resources for business owners, and they do that in very specific ways. The overarching theme is growth capability, but here are three reasons your business may need to hire a 3PL company sooner, rather than later:
- Working with a 3PL can make your business more competitive.
- A good 3PL uses a vast carrier network to minimize client involvement.
- Working with a 3PL company enables you to scale labor and transportation while allocating valuable resources to growth.
Here’s a closer look at each.
1. Working With a 3PL Company Can Make Your Business More Competitive
Branching your business into transportation is time-consuming – and it’s usually not cost-effective. For most companies, it costs less to ship goods through a third-party logistics company than it does to buy trucks and hire drivers, hire a shipping manager who coordinates transportation of goods across the ocean or across the country, and maintain licensing requirements and stay up-to-date on location-based laws.
When your business saves money, time and other resources by hiring out transportation services, you’re free to allocate those funds where they’ll do your company the most good.
2. A Good 3PL Company Uses a Vast Carrier Network to Minimize Client Involvement
Whether your business is small or large, working with a 3PL company that has a vast carrier network can help you ship your goods faster, more efficiently and more affordably. You don’t have to worry about coordinating between trucking, rail and air transportation, or about international shipping requirements and customs, when you’re working with a 3PL company that already has the appropriate connections and relationships – you simply hire the company to transport your goods from Point A to Point B.
Working with a 3PL company relieves you of the burden of involvement – and it prevents you from having to hire dedicated shipping managers who must coordinate and keep track of multiple legs of multiple trips.
3. Working With a 3PL Company Enables You to Scale Labor and Transportation While Allocating Valuable Resources to Growth
You can use a 3PL as much – or as little – as is necessary for your business. When business is booming, your 3PL company can handle transport without scrambling for resources; when it’s slow, you’re not paying for empty trucks or drivers who are desperate to log hours. You simply let your 3PL company know what goods need to arrive in which destinations and leave the rest up to them.
Are You Thinking About Hiring a 3PL Company?
For most businesses – even relatively small businesses with shipping needs – working with a 3PL company is a sound decision. Overall, working with a 3PL company saves businesses time and money, which frees up resources for the most important of all business-related tasks: Growth.