Almost everyone has read the famous Harry Potter books and encountered the strange Sorting Hat, which knows each of the student’s personalities and can place them in the right house. Unfortunately, there is no such creation to help sort your inventory during transport and when placed in warehouses. Instead, you need to find a third party, usually the warehouse owner, who will sort your inventory and keep track of it so nothing gets lost or broken.

Third-party logistics (3PL) is a broad term used to describe outsourcing to another party important elements of product distribution, including transportation, storage, and order fulfillment. There is more than one type of third party logistics, but the goal of all of them is to create integrated operations to better manage yards, the distribution process, warehousing, and how your customers receive their products on time.

Modern people have a tendency to become disconnected from many elements of the world around them. For example, many in countries like the United States take it for granted that they can receive just about anything they want after ordering it online. In many cases, they can even get items overnight and not have to worry about waiting or savoring the weeks up to delivery.

One of the most unusual but fascinating elements about modern life is the ability to have whatever we want in only a few days. This phenomenon is accomplished by dedicated businesses that facilitate the manufacture, transportation, and delivery of products. This rapid movement of goods, often in a few days or even overnight, is called expedited freight.

If you’ve got inventory that needs to move from storage to a fulfillment center or warehouse so you can get it to your customers, you might be looking into LTL freight to make that transfer happen. LTL freight is for shipments that take up Less Than Truckload (hence the LTL) so there’s room on the trailer for multiple shipments. Your palette is eligible for LTL shipping if it weighs between 100 and 10,000 pounds, doesn’t require special care (like for fragile items) and you don’t mind the truck making extra stops to pick up other shipments. 

3PL, otherwise known as third party logistics is a service that allows you to outsource operating logistics from warehousing to distribution, enabling you to concentrate on other aspects of your business. Third-party logistics companies provide a variety of services related to supply chain logistics. This covers storage, warehousing, selection and packing, stock forecasting, order fulfillment, packaging, and delivery. If you’re here, you might be considering using 3PL for your business. We want to make it easy for you to decide if 3PL is right for your company, so we’ve put together helpful pros and cons list to help you get started.

More often than not, when a business is in need of expedited freight services it’s because another issue has already lead them down the wrong path and now they’re behind schedule. Expedited freight services ensure a shipment makes it to its destination in as little time as possible, but for a cost. Since expedited freight can be costly and it’s likely that the business owner seeking expedited services is already frustrated at being behind in the first place, we want to make sure you have all the facts before you spend a lot of money on expedited freight service.

In warehouses and fulfillment centers, sorting is a necessary process that leads to the smooth functioning of any company that deals with consumer goods. A well-sorted warehouse or fulfillment center is step one in the efficient management of your company. If you have a great sorting system, you’ll be able to take inventory and restock quicker and easier. Not to mention the fact that efficiently sorted inventory is much easier to locate and get to your customer. Fast shipping to customers is one of the most important aspects of running a successful business.

Let’s talk logistics. You’ve heard this word used in business hundreds of times but unless you specialize in its handling, you may not really know all that it encompasses.
At the most basic level, logistics in business refers to how supplies and materials move from point A to point B. That might sound simple, but there’s a lot of data, timelines and moving pieces that go into streamlining the process of that movement.