Original article source supplychain24/7
What Happens When You’re Best Friend Turns into Your Biggest Foe?
Shock, Anguish, and Sadness.
That’s the situation that the 3PL companies are dealing with right now.
Trucks, Ships, and Boxes; their most intimate homies have rebelled against them.
Believe it or not, managing fleet is one of the biggest challenges for 3PL companies. Cutting transportation costs is the topmost concern for 3PL providers according to this Capgemini study.
Rising consumer expectations due to the growth of the omnichannel and e-commerce industry have reduced the willingness to pay for quicker deliveries, with about 64 percent of consumers unwilling to pay anything extra for less than two-day shipping.
The evolution of the omnichannel and e-commerce industry has also added to the pressure of better last-mile deliveries.
Ad-hoc online sales and sudden seasonal spikes in demand mean that shippers might struggle to process all the orders in a timely fashion.
This can lead to an increase in overtime, a sudden hurry to hire temporary employees, and a lack of branded delivery supplies.
According to another study, 40% of firms have reported increased rates, 29% say assets aren’t available to move shipments when needed, and 30% have to outsource their work with larger third-party logistics to increase capacity.
With 3PL companies not able to make the best use of their own fleet, the bond between vehicles and shipping companies is on shaky ground.
Reverse logistics is another pain point for today’s 3PL players. The process of moving goods from their final destination for handling exchanges, returns, refunds, or proper disposal is proving too much to handle for 3PL organizations and their fleets.
Increasing return requests need extra man-hours and additional shipping supplies which are acting as a major deterrent in the relationship between fleets and their 3PL counterparts.
The impact of an online retail customer’s return experience can be summed up as below.
85% of customers WILL NOT shop with you again if the return process is not convenient
95% of customers WILL shop with you again if the returns process is convenient.