Benefits of 3PL

3PL provider or the provider (operator) of logistics services is an organization that provides comprehensive services in the field of logistics for customers: transportation, freight forwarding, warehousing, customs registration, and so on. Abbreviation 3PL means Third Party Logistics. In other words, the term is a synonymous to the conception of outsourcing, which means transfer of a part or of all the logistics functions to a third party, which is the provider of logistics services.

In most cases these are the transport services that are transferred to the logistics providers. Unlike ordinary freight, 3PL providers do not simply provide different types of transport services. They perform the entire range of activities necessary for the movement of goods throughout the supply chain, including freight forwarding, reception, shipment and storage of goods in warehouses, insurance of goods, customs registrations, cargo transshipment and many more. The most serious logistic operators are specialized in international transport. They demand experience and specialized knowledge from the companies . As an example we may look through logistics services in the field of international transport of goods by PTL Group. The company offers a wide range of transportation (road and air transportation, marine, multimodal) of various cargoes: oversized and bulky loads, collective consignments, as well as dangerous freights.

Along with the 3PL you may meet the other terms: 1PL, 2PL, 4PL and even 5PL. unfortunately, the views on the definitions of these terms strongly vary. Here is one of the most common variant, which will help to understand the difference between these concepts.

• 1PL (First Party Logistics) - all logistic functions are performed by a company which is the owner of the cargo. This is so-called stand-alone logistics.
• 2PL (Second Party Logistics) - the simplest form of outsourcing when a third-party company provides a traditional set of services for the transportation and inventory management.
• 3PL (Third Party Logistics) - a more advanced form of outsourcing. Specialized logistic company in addition to standard logistic services provides other additional services with significant added value for the customer. You may order 3pl services in Dubai in Triburg.
• 4PL (Fourth Party Logistics) is the integration of all the companies involved in the supply chain. 4PL provider manages all logistic processes of such companies for the convenience of the supply chain.
• 5PL (Fifth Party Logistics) - is the level of 4PL, but with support of modern network information technology.

It should be noted that many experts do not consider it right to allocate logistics service providers at all levels, except for 3PL, because 3PL is just a third-party logistics. So except the two main parties - the producer and the consumer, there is a third - a company that provides logistical services for the first two. From this point of view definitions 1PL, 2PL, 4PL, 5PL etc. are very doubtful.