3PL
Third-Party Logistics (3PL)
Warehousing, handling and transportation run as one ongoing programme rather than a series of separate, individually quoted moves.
What 3PL actually means
Third-party logistics means outsourcing the physical parts of your supply chain — storage, inventory handling, order fulfilment and the transportation between them — to one provider who runs them together. It is a different arrangement from booking loads: instead of quoting each shipment, Klutch holds the inventory, works to agreed service levels, and coordinates the freight around them, with one point of contact and reporting across the whole programme. You keep control of the supply chain and the commercial decisions; what changes is that the day-to-day execution stops being somebody's job at your end.
What you get
- Warehousing, handling and transportation together
- One point of contact across the programme
- Inbound receiving through outbound delivery
- Reporting on what moved, when, and what it cost
Is this the right service for your shipment?
Reach for it when
- Storage, handling and freight are currently three separate suppliers
- Order volume is steady enough to justify holding inventory closer to the customer
- Coordinating shipments has quietly become a full-time role internally
- You need one accountable party from receiving through delivery
What we need to quote it
- What you store, how much of it, and how fast it turns
- Inbound and outbound volumes, and how orders arrive
- Service levels you need to hit, and who your receivers are
- Any temperature, segregation or compliance requirements
Who moves freight on 3PL
Related services
WHSEWarehousing & StorageShort and long-term storage for freight that is not moving yet, or not moving all at once, with handling in and out arranged alongside it.
XDOCKCross DockingFreight moved straight from an inbound trailer to an outbound one, sorted and reloaded the same day, with no storage in between.
LTLLTLLess-than-truckload capacity for palletized freight that does not need a full trailer, moved on consolidated line-haul.
3PL, answered
The questions shippers ask before booking this service. If yours is not here, call dispatch and ask.
Storage, inventory handling, order fulfilment, and the transportation between them, run together by one provider. The distinction from booking freight is that it is an ongoing arrangement against agreed service levels rather than a quote per shipment. You keep control of the supply chain; the day-to-day execution moves to us.
A freight company moves a shipment you have already decided to send. A 3PL holds the inventory, picks and packs the orders, and arranges the freight as part of the same programme, with one point of contact and reporting across all of it. If your storage, handling and transportation are currently three separate suppliers, that is the gap 3PL closes.
Broadly, one where coordinating storage and shipping has become a real job internally, or where holding inventory closer to your customers would shorten delivery times. Below that, quoting freight per shipment and storing it yourself is usually cheaper and simpler, and we will say so.
What you store and how fast it turns, inbound and outbound volumes, how orders reach us, the service levels you have to hit, and any temperature, segregation or compliance requirements. Unlike a single load, this is priced on the shape of the whole programme rather than a lane.
Have freight to move? Let’s get it moving.
Tell us what you are shipping, where it is going, and when it needs to move. We will take it from there.