Here are the latest logistics job openings available from the logistics job board

Logistics Manager

Director of Logistics

Operations Manager

Fleet Manager

Traffic Manager

Local Drivers

OTR Drivers

Ask one person they’ll tell you one thing, ask another they’ll feel the exact opposite.

Do 3PL mergers have a positive or negative reaction on service to outsourced logistics clients? Here are two different articles, from two different logistics publications, with two different stances.

Logistics Today
Logistics Mergers Don’t Help Customers

Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies
Consolidating 3PLs Benefits Customers

While RFPs can be a great way to gather additional information on logistics companies and receive competitive bids from a number of companies, they can also have the potential to become a colossal waste of resources for both your company and the 3PL providers participating. In fact some logistics companies will not even participate in exhaustive RFPs; this is particularly true for companies that are known for issuing yearly benchmarking exercises.

If you are going to issue an RFP consider limiting the distribution to only 3-5 companies. By doing extensive preliminary research select which providers will fit your needs and then consider issuing a succinct Request for Quote to these select companies. Need to find out more information on companies? Review their website, visit trade magazine sites and directories and then contact the companies electronically or give a business development or sales rep at each company a call to really understand each logistics providers strengths and unique service offerings.

Before making those initial contacts make sure you understand your program inside/out and in great detail. Every company is different so it’s important to give your 3PL a good idea of what your program looks like and how it runs. Usually the more information you can provide the better the rates will be because it limits the amount of assumptions that need to be made in the engineering/pricing process. Here are a number of things that 3PL providers would typically like to know that will enable them to generate a proper quote.

• Product(s) Description
• Average Monthly Inventory: # of pallets/skids/rolls; # of cases
• Average case weight
• Average cases per pallet
• Average SKUs in inventory
• Product Stackability
• Pallet Dimensions
• # of inbounds received per year
• # of outbound orders per year
• Are the shipments coming in on rail, truck, LTL small parcel?
• Locations/Lanes for shipments/pickups
• Technology requirements: EDI, RF Scanning, RFID?

It seems like every month you hear about another major 3PL merger or acquisition; strengthening or creating yet another massive 300 pound Gorilla, supply chain management conglomerate. But according to Michael Stolarczyk, a business development director at Exel Logistics, small to mid-market regional logistics providers are still viable and very much in demand.

Some clients outsourcing logistics services to 3PL providers feel that they can get better results by using one or even a number of different niche logistics companies. With smaller logistics providers some customers feel that they get more specialized attention and have access to top management figures that aren’t always as accessible when working with the big guys.

There are also other great advantages to working with a “lean, mean” third party logistics provider that focuses on a few regions for it’s public warehousing and transportation offerings. These include working with companies that specialize in servicing your particular industry, product or lane segment.

It is important to assess your company’s needs before making a decision what type of 3PL to outsource your services to. While a smaller or medium sized provider might be perfect for one company a large global provider may be the right fit for another. Be sure to use due dilligence when evaluating your needs.

3PLwire also has a good write up on the use of small/medium sized 3PLs : part 1, part 2

source: Niche Logistics Companies Play Important Role

According to a recent report in Logistics Today the year 2005 marked the largest increase in logistics costs in the history of the State of Logistics Report.

The reports claims that logistics costs increased by a whopping $156 billion. The majority of this increase came on the transportation side.

Representative Rosalyn Wilson noted that:

Greater efficiency must be extracted from logistics networks to counter many of the effects of the rising costs which means the U.S. must do more to improve its transportation infrastructure. Ports must be modernized, private investment in rail infrastructure must be encouraged, and additional lane miles must be added to highways as well as establishing truck-only lanes to improve efficiency.

Explosive Growth for Logistics Costs

This is a quote from a recent article by Hiawatha Bray a Reporter for The Boston Globe

“Don’t bother me with a pitch for a story that would never, ever appear in the Boston Globe. This is a newspaper, not a technical trade rag. Your hot new breakthrough in supply chain management may wow them at the next convention of the International Warehouse Logistics Association, but the readers of the Boston Globe won’t give a rip. So keep it to yourself, okay?”

Looking at this statement I wonder why supply chain management and warehousing are not given more mainstream business news coverage. Third Party Logistics services are those which can be and are utilized by just about any company producing products or raw materials.

Maybe news releases on innovations in the storing and trucking of goods is not as exciting as the latest PR blitz by Google offering some new service that only a small percentage of the population will actually use, but if it is not already, logistics should be considered of vital importance to the business community.

Logistics and Supply chain management are not some fad. They are necessary business processes. But maybe the reason I’m writing this is because this site is an “online technical trade rag.”