Majority of Fortune 500 companies use 3PLs

Research report says 66% of America's top companies have at least one third-party logistics (3PL) relationship.

-- Modern Materials Handling, 11/9/2006

Two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies in the United States have relationships with third-party logistics (3PLs) providers, according to a research report from the consulting firm Armstrong & Associates.

The larger the company, the more likely it will have a 3PL relationship. According to the report, 81% of Fortune 100 companies use at least one 3PL. Wal-Mart uses 32 third-party logistics providers in its supply chain. General Motors uses 39.

3PLs, however, are beginning to penetrate further into the market, gaining customers among the smaller companies on the Fortune 500 list. About 54% of companies ranking between 400 and 500 on the list have 3PL relationships. That’s up from about 24% in 2001.

Not all Fortune 500 companies have business models that would require 3PL services. Armstrong excluded advertising firms, insurance agencies and other such companies before computing its results.

While most of the individual 3PL services reviewed by Armstrong were transportation-related, warehousing accounted for 19.3% of services, and value-added services (such as inventory management, assembly, kitting and bar coding) accounted for 18.5%.