The 3PL industry experienced continued growth despite a sluggish economy in 2015. The TIA 3PL Market Report shows that 3PL load count and revenue has increased each quarter since the report’s inception in 2007. Growth in the industry is from a continued investment in people, process and technology.
The feared driver shortage did not materialize in 2015. In fact, 2015 showed an increase in small carriers and owner-operators. 3PLs are uniquely qualified for accessing this capacity. We are concerned that the implementation of electronic logging devices, expected in 2016, may cause some drivers to leave the industry. If this occurs, we believe it will cause shippers to turn to 3PLs to find needed capacity.
We are not concerned about new “Uber for freight” apps. 3PLs are technology adopters. Generally, smaller carriers are reticent to invest in technology. I doubt that many shippers will want to manage numerous small carriers, or risk an outage or a plant failure by using an app. 3PLs invest in people, process and technology, and they provide this investment to shippers and small carriers on a variable-cost basis.
A future trend that may prove to be most important for 3PLs is the increasing demand for last-mile and one-hour deliveries. Midsize and smaller retailers, we believe, will look to 3PLs to help them compete against big retailers.
The 3PL industry continues to grow and play an important role in our economy. At $160 billion in revenue and a payroll of $7.5 billion, the 3PL industry is 1.5 times the size of the beer industry, and 4 times the size of the candy industry. Brokerage-based 3PLs are growing at a rate three times faster than U.S. gross domestic product, and the industry looks forward to even bigger things to come in 2016.
Robert A. Voltmann, President and CEO, Transportation Intermediaries Association