For better or for worse, I have been the editor of Inbound Logistics for nearly 25 years-before the term third-party logistics, or 3PL, even existed. That means I spent about two decades (gulp!) watching the evolution of the third-party logistics sector, and all the different types of companies providing value-added logistics solutions. It has been a fascinating evolution-made even more fascinating by the demands you placed on your providers, driven by your changing needs. In the early days of outsourced logistics, proto-3PLs arose from the ranks of truck lease companies, warehouse companies, transport brokers, forwarders, and integrators that did not want to say no to customers. Because "he who is closest to the customer wins," these providers introduced value-added services to cement-and build on-existing relationships.
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