3PL Dating and Marriage Issues

3PL Marriage Advice



Some of us have entered into those treacherous waters that contain the transfer of in house operations to a 3PL. We know that this is a fairly big deal. You can’t really get the benefits of a 3PL relationship without betting some significant part of your business, and in this case, mistakes and problems show up at the customer in most cases. Many times it also means taking away business (read jobs) from internal folks, some of whom can act like jilted ex-boy or girl friends, waiting to bring as much attention as possible to problems that may come up.


Since logistics companies seem to be last companies on the planet that still have an entertainment budget, the “dating” process can be pleasant, but there is a lot of detail that needs to be covered in this phase for the relationship to work. Many times real issues between the partners are not discussed out of laziness, or yes, fear of not being as attractive to the other side as we would like to be. A lot of time is spent on the contract, but as with a “pre nup” it only really deals with what happens after the relationship goes south.




Like a marriage, the key issues in making the relationship work are communication, trust, and flexibility. Inevitably there are things that are going to come up after the fact, during implementation (oh – you guys have an office in Botswana?) on both sides (your IT system has EDI, but you have never actually used it….) that need to be worked out (these rates were based on your forecast volume… which is 3X what we are actually getting) and crises need to be managed on an ad hoc basis. (no - we don’t know where the container is)

It is critical that all the parties involved go into the venture with the idea that things will change and that the overall objectives of the project are what is paramount. Modifications of these types of agreements are inevitable. If each side can keep his head as the inevitable issues come up and both parties learn to live under the same roof, a solid relationship can be formed.

There is of course a lot that can be handled in the “Dating” process, and the implementation can be managed to minimize spats and disagreements. But I will address that in later blogs….



Till then…….