What is a 3PL Logistics Company?

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Logistics can be complicated, especially when you’re focused on growing your business and meeting customer demands. As a shipper, you’re well aware of the challenges that come with managing the movement of goods, from sourcing to delivery. That’s where the concept of a 3PL logistics company steps in.

In this post, we’re diving into the world of 3PL logistics and providing you with a clear understanding of what it’s all about. Whether you’re seeking to streamline operations, expand your reach, or simply gain insights into how logistics works, we’re here to shed light on the role a 3PL logistics company plays in the success of your shipping endeavors.

Understanding the Role of a 3PL Logistics Company

A 3PL logistics company, or third-party logistics provider, is a service provider that manages all or part of a business’s supply chain to simplify operations, contain costs, and improve customer experiences.

From warehousing and distribution to order fulfillment, freight management, and transportation coordination, a 3PL logistics company serves as an extension of your team, working collaboratively to ensure your goods reach their destinations seamlessly. They leverage their expertise, resources, and technology to manage the complexities of logistics, allowing you to focus on your core business activities.

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In essence, a 3PL acts as a bridge between your products and your customers, offering customized solutions that align with your specific needs and industry demands. Whether you’re a small business looking to expand or a larger enterprise seeking to enhance operational efficiency, partnering with a 3PL logistics company can be a game-changing strategy to elevate your supply chain capabilities.

Services Offered by a 3PL Logistics Company

Integrated Logistics Software: Transportation management systems (TMS) integrated with your existing software platforms for one unified source of information. As a result, you can facilitate tracking, tracing, and troubleshooting freight shipments while optimizing shipping costs and processes.

Freight Transportation Services: Commonly, a 3PL logistics company can help you move inbound freight to your warehouse or outbound shipments to their final destination, such as a customer, at the best rate and service type. They also often help contain shipping costs, shorten shipping times, and provides easy access to extensive delivery options.

Warehousing: A 3PL logistics company may offer warehousing services like inventory storage and management, plus order fulfillment, shipping, and receiving. Additionally, related services some 3PLs offer include order management and customer service.

Expert Advice: A 3PL has deep experience and expertise in managing every phase of the supply chain for businesses of all sizes. This knowledge allows them to provide guidance for improving your operations and minimizing risks while containing costs.

Next Steps

As your business undergoes growth, the task of handling intricate supply chain functions can become overwhelming. This challenge can lead to costly errors, potentially resulting in diminished profits and unsatisfactory customer experiences.

A 3PL logistics company, like BlueGrace, partners with you so you’re free to focus on your core business and its growth. We can help you minimize freight costs while managing shipments to painlessly boost business growth and customer satisfaction.

BlueGrace 3PL logistics company offers:

Customizable transportation management solutions that help you manage your freight spend.
Our industry-leading TMS, BlueShip, for easy rate shopping, and freight shipment tracking and tracing.
A network of over 250,000 established carriers across the country.
12 offices strategically located in major transportation hubs across the U.S.

Ready to chat with us? Fill out the form for a free demo and see our TMS in action!

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Simplify your LTL with the proprietary BlueShip Rating Engine built for speed, accuracy, and performance. This LTL rating engine delivers thousands of rates in seconds through a single instance platform - so you can quote with confidence. As an open platform, it allows for an easy and accessible API with a software development kit available.

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Multi-Modal Support

Built on a modern tech-stack with software products designed to support an increasing amount of transportation and modes. Full truckload, less-than-truckload, refrigerated, temperature controlled, flatbed, intermodal and more. BlueShip TMS is designed with flexibility and customization to support multiple modes and multiple integrations that provide the highest level of visibility across your supply chain.

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Freight Tracking and Visibility

Having complete visibility to your freight is a necessity. With the BlueShip platform, you'll have access to built-in tracking, making it effortless to see where your freight is, every step of the way.

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Predictive Analytics, Actionable Data & Meaningful Insights

BlueShip drives value through understanding, comprehending, and visualizing your logistics network data. Based on highly clean and accurate data, this gives you deep visibility across your supply chain. It allows for AI and machine learning, as well as predictive and prescriptive decision support analytics to build resilience, prepare for disruption and increase operations efficiency.

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