Finding the right 3PL is about finding the one that’s built for how your business operates.
Here at Stewardship Warehousing & Logistics, we’re not the right fit for every business, and every business isn’t the right fit for us.
In this article, my goal is to give you a clear picture of who we’re set up to serve well, and who we’re not. So you can make a confident decision either way, whether that’s with us or with someone else.
What We’re Built For
We’re not just a place to store boxes. We’re a good fit for businesses that need a 3PL partner who treats their inventory like their own and works with them to build a process that actually fits how their business runs.
Although this isn’t an exhaustive list, here are a few examples of what that looks like in practice:
- B2B support that requires quality control and special handling — an example is a manufacturing customer that needs handling with a specialty forklift to ensure product quality
- B2B that requires shipment submission on vendor portals for major retailers
- Big and bulky products, like furniture, that a lot of 3PLs aren’t set up to move efficiently
- Direct-to-consumer fulfillment, generally under about 500 orders a week
- Support for logistics providers and freight brokers who need a 3PL for cross-docking or sorting and segregating programs
If your business fits into one or more of those categories, there’s a good chance we can help you.
The Kind of Business That Gets the Most Out of Working With Us
Beyond the categories above, the businesses that do best with us are the ones that don’t fit neatly into a rigid, one-size-fits-all operation.
I think of it like a plate of spaghetti. A lot of businesses come to us with a model that’s a little tangled, a little nuanced, and they need a partner who’s willing to sit down, sort through it, and figure out how to make it work. That’s where we do our best work.
If you need a partner who can flex with you as your business changes, not one that forces you into a box that fit two years ago but doesn’t fit now, that’s us.
What We’re Not Set Up to Handle
Here’s where I want to be direct because knowing this up front saves everybody time.
We don’t handle:
- Hazmat
- Cold storage
- Food or anything perishable
- Pet food
- Apparel and cosmetics, mainly because of the reverse logistics involved
- High-volume e-commerce
- Highly automated fulfillment needs, like in-house labeling equipment
We also don’t offer reverse logistics. If any of these are core to what you need, there are 3PLs built specifically for that work, and you’d be better served going to one of them.
Read our article How to Find a Trustworthy Third-Party Logistics Provider to help you find your good fit 3PL partner.
Why We Tell You Upfront If We’re Not a Fit
This comes down to our values and how we operate as a company. We have a value we call Considerate of Others — thinking about what it’s actually like to be on the other side of the relationship, not just what’s easiest for us. Telling a business we’re not the right fit, even when we could take the business, is part of that.
We also hold to Radical Candor. We’d rather speak the truth to you now than let a mismatch turn into a bigger problem down the road.
And when a business does come to us with something complicated, we lean on two more values: Simple Is Better, and Everything Is Figure-Out-Able. We thrive on sitting down in a collaborative spirit to sort through a nuanced situation with you rather than force it into a process that doesn’t actually work for your business.
Still Not Sure If You’re a Fit?
If you read through this and you’re still not sure where your business lands, that’s a fair place to be. A lot of businesses don’t fit neatly into a list.
The best way to find out is to talk it through. Contact us, and we’ll have a straightforward conversation about whether we’re the right partner for you. And if we’re not, we’ll tell you that too.
