Third Party Logistics (3PL) Services
Freight from the Heart Starts with
Keeping Your Business Moving
Your supply chain is the lifeblood of your business. When freight stalls, communication breaks down, or visibility disappears between providers, the pressure quickly spreads across inventory, production schedules, customer expectations, and day-to-day operations. Shapiro’s 3PL services bring transportation, customs, logistics technology, and operational oversight together through one coordinated relationship designed to keep freight flowing smoothly from origin to final delivery. With more than a century of trade experience behind us, we help businesses avoid the chronic headaches that come from fragmented logistics management, reactive communication, and disconnected systems. From shipment visibility and customs coordination to freight optimization and provider management, our role is simple—help your supply chain operate with fewer surprises, faster response times, and stronger long-term stability.
- 100+ Years of Trade Experience
- Licensed U.S. Customs Broker
- FMC Licensed Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier (NVOCC)
- Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) Certified
- SOC 2 Compliant Platform
- 100+ Countries Covered
What Is a 3PL?
A third-party logistics (3PL) provider is a company that manages outsourced logistics services on your behalf, including freight forwarding, transportation management, warehousing, customs brokerage, and supply chain visibility. Instead of building those functions internally, businesses partner with a 3PL provider to gain access to global transportation networks, logistics technology, customs expertise, and operational support through one centralized relationship. Modern 3PL providers do far more than book freight. They help coordinate the movement, communication, reporting, and oversight required to keep increasingly complex supply chains functioning properly across every stage of the shipment journey. When transportation systems, customs activity, and provider communication operate separately, small issues tend to spread quickly. A strong 3PL helps bring those moving pieces back into alignment.
Why Businesses Partner With a 3PL Provider
Complexity Is Growing
Faster Than Internal Teams
Tariff changes, carrier disruptions, sourcing shifts, port congestion, and evolving compliance requirements continue putting pressure on supply chains across nearly every industry. Managing all of that internally often forces teams into constant reaction mode. A strong 3PL partner helps absorb operational strain through established infrastructure, experienced logistics teams, and transportation oversight that supports faster decision-making when conditions start changing unexpectedly.
Fragmented Systems
Create Communication Gaps
Most businesses manage logistics activity across disconnected carrier portals, spreadsheets, customs systems, emails, and reporting tools that rarely communicate cleanly with one another. The result is often delayed updates, duplicated work, and operational blind spots that make issues harder to spot early. Shapiro helps centralize shipment activity, reporting, customs milestones, and transportation visibility into one operational environment, so teams spend less time hunting for updates and more time solving problems.
Transportation Costs
Often Rise Quietly
Freight spend problems rarely begin with one catastrophic shipment issue. More often, unnecessary costs build gradually through detention charges, avoidable delays, expedited shipments, poor routing decisions, and inconsistent provider performance that goes unnoticed for too long. Operational visibility and stronger coordination help businesses identify those pressure points earlier before they start bleeding into larger transportation costs.
Benefits of Freight Audit & Consulting Services
A structured freight audit program delivers more than one-time overcharge recovery. Over time, it creates stronger visibility, cleaner transportation data, healthier operational workflows, and more informed logistics decision-making across the supply chain.
End-to-End Supply Chain Visibility
Logistics Management Platform
Real-time shipment tracking, exception alerts, customs visibility, and centralized reporting across every transportation mode and provider. Shapiro’s visibility framework gives your team a clearer operational pulse across suppliers, carriers, customs activity, and delivery milestones so disruptions can be identified earlier and addressed before they create larger downstream issues.
Shapiro 360° is our cloud-based logistics management platform and the operational hub behind every shipment. Native ERP, WMS, and TMS connectivity, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), API integrations, and direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) connectivity help shipment data, documentation, and reporting circulate through one centralized environment instead of fragmented systems and disconnected portals. That means fewer communication gaps, cleaner reporting visibility, and stronger day-to-day coordination across the shipment lifecycle.
Customs Entry & Trade Compliance
Multi-Carrier Freight & Consulting
As a licensed U.S. Customs Broker, Shapiro manages customs entry activity with the regulatory oversight and operational attention required to help freight move compliantly and efficiently through the clearance process. Section 301 tariffs, Antidumping and Countervailing Duties (AD/CVD), Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), Free Trade Agreement (FTA) qualification, and audit visibility all operate within the same coordinated structure supporting your larger logistics strategy. Customs compliance works best when it is treated as part of the full transportation picture—not handed off as a separate administrative task after freight is already moving.
Ocean, air, ground, parcel, and intermodal transportation coordinated across a global provider network spanning more than 100 countries. Combined with freight audit, benchmarking, and optimization consulting, Shapiro helps businesses create transportation strategies capable of adapting when sourcing patterns, market conditions, capacity availability, or customer expectations begin shifting. The ability to reroute quickly, benchmark providers effectively, and maintain options across multiple carriers helps reduce the operational stress that often builds during volatile freight markets.
End-to-End Supply Chain Visibility
Real-time shipment tracking, exception alerts, customs visibility, and centralized reporting across every transportation mode and provider. Shapiro’s visibility framework gives your team a clearer operational pulse across suppliers, carriers, customs activity, and delivery milestones so disruptions can be identified earlier and addressed before they create larger downstream issues.
Logistics Management Platform
Shapiro 360° is our cloud-based logistics management platform and the operational hub behind every shipment. Native ERP, WMS, and TMS connectivity, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), API integrations, and direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) connectivity help shipment data, documentation, and reporting circulate through one centralized environment instead of fragmented systems and disconnected portals. That means fewer communication gaps, cleaner reporting visibility, and stronger day-to-day coordination across the shipment lifecycle.
Customs Entry & Trade Compliance
As a licensed U.S. Customs Broker, Shapiro manages customs entry activity with the regulatory oversight and operational attention required to help freight move compliantly and efficiently through the clearance process. Section 301 tariffs, Antidumping and Countervailing Duties (AD/CVD), Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), Free Trade Agreement (FTA) qualification, and audit visibility all operate within the same coordinated structure supporting your larger logistics strategy. Customs compliance works best when it is treated as part of the full transportation picture—not handed off as a separate administrative task after freight is already moving.
Multi-Carrier Freight & Consulting
Ocean, air, ground, parcel, and intermodal transportation coordinated across a global provider network spanning more than 100 countries. Combined with freight audit, benchmarking, and optimization consulting, Shapiro helps businesses create transportation strategies capable of adapting when sourcing patterns, market conditions, capacity availability, or customer expectations begin shifting. The ability to reroute quickly, benchmark providers effectively, and maintain options across multiple carriers helps reduce the operational stress that often builds during volatile freight markets.
How Our 3PL Approach Delivers Results
Centralized Logistics Management
Freight activity across shipments, providers, customs milestones, and transportation modes is managed through one centralized operational environment. Shapiro 360° replaces fragmented portals and disconnected spreadsheets with a more coordinated command center designed to keep freight activity, reporting, and communication moving together efficiently.
Data-Driven Decision Making
Custom KPI dashboards, landed cost visibility, OTIF benchmarking, and lane-level analytics help transform transportation data into smarter procurement, finance, and logistics decisions. The numbers themselves only tell part of the story. Interpreting them correctly—and knowing how to respond operationally—is where experienced logistics support becomes valuable.
Scalable & Flexible Operations
As your business expands into new origins, transportation modes, suppliers, and customer markets, your logistics structure scales through the same coordinated operational framework. That flexibility helps businesses grow without constantly rebuilding systems, retraining providers, or stitching together disconnected workflows every time supply chain demands evolve.
Global Carrier Network & Expertise
Shapiro’s transportation network spans more than 100 countries with regional expertise across major global trade lanes. Global coverage is important. Understanding how freight actually behaves within those regions matters just as much. Our teams monitor shifting market conditions, provider performance, port environments, and regional transportation trends every day to help clients navigate changing conditions with stronger operational awareness.
Benefits of Partnering With a 3PL
Reduced Transportation Costs
Negotiated provider rates, freight audit recovery, transportation benchmarking, and operational optimization initiatives help businesses reduce unnecessary logistics spend while improving shipment performance and routing efficiency.
Improved Visibility & Control
A centralized operational platform across transportation providers, customs activity, and shipment milestones helps reduce the blind spots that often lead to delayed communication, reactive planning, and missed delivery expectations.
Increased Efficiency & Automation
Integrated ERP, WMS, and TMS connectivity reduces manual data entry, repetitive administrative work, and disconnected reporting processes. Teams spend less time managing spreadsheets and more time focusing on operational priorities that actually move the business forward.
Risk Mitigation & Operational Stability
Proactive exception management, compliance oversight, and contingency planning help businesses identify issues earlier and respond faster before disruptions begin impacting inventory flow, production schedules, or customer commitments.
Who Benefits from Our 3PL Services?
Why Choose Shapiro as Your 3PL Partner
Technology We
Use Ourselves
Shapiro 360° is the same operational platform our logistics teams use every day—not a disconnected customer-facing dashboard built solely for reporting purposes. The information your team sees is directly tied to the way freight is managed operationally behind the scenes, helping create stronger alignment between shipment visibility, communication, and execution.
In-House
Customs Brokerage
Many logistics providers lose visibility once freight reaches customs clearance. Shapiro’s in-house licensed customs brokerage helps maintain stronger continuity through the clearance process with fewer handoffs, faster issue escalation, and clearer communication between transportation and compliance activity.
A Dedicated Team,
Not a Ticket Queue
Your Shapiro team understands your suppliers, trade lanes, operational priorities, and shipment expectations. When disruptions happen, your business works with people who already know the operation instead of starting from scratch with a rotating support center unfamiliar with your freight. Having a good bedside manner still matters in logistics.
Global Reach,
Local Knowledge
Shapiro’s network spans more than 100 countries with operational expertise across Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, North America, and other major sourcing regions. Global scale works best when paired with regional understanding, responsive communication, and teams that know how freight actually moves through each market.
More Than a Century
of Trade Experience
Founded in 1915, Shapiro has helped clients navigate changing tariff environments, regulatory shifts, supply chain disruptions, carrier volatility, and evolving transportation markets for more than a century. That experience shapes the way we help businesses troubleshoot operational issues, navigate uncertainty, and keep freight moving when market conditions become more complicated.
Technology Works Better
When the Right People Are Behind It
Most logistics platforms can display shipment data. The difference comes from having experienced teams who know how to interpret that information, escalate issues quickly, and respond effectively when pressure starts building inside the operation. Shapiro combines visibility technology, customs expertise, and active transportation management within the same operational environment, so freight activity, reporting, and communication remain closely aligned throughout the shipment lifecycle. The goal is not simply providing updates. It is helping businesses maintain stronger control, faster response times, and smoother cargo circulation across the full supply chain.
Frequently Asked Questions
A 3PL (third party logistics) provider is a company that manages outsourced logistics services including freight forwarding, transportation management, customs brokerage, warehousing, and supply chain visibility. Modern 3PL providers combine operational execution with technology and data visibility to help businesses manage increasingly complex global supply chains more efficiently.
Core 3PL services typically include:
– Freight forwarding
– Customs brokerage
– Transportation management
– Warehousing & fulfillment
– Supply chain visibility
– Freight audit & consulting
– Logistics technology integration
Shapiro delivers these services through one coordinated operational structure supported by Shapiro 360°.
3PL providers help reduce logistics costs through:
– Negotiated transportation rates
– Freight optimization
– Lane benchmarking
– Freight audit recovery
– Operational visibility
– Reduced manual processes
– Faster disruption response
Most businesses begin seeing measurable operational improvements and transportation savings during the first year of engagement.
Businesses often engage a 3PL partner when:
– expanding internationally
– managing increasing freight complexity
– struggling with fragmented logistics systems
– facing repeated supply chain disruptions
– needing customs expertise
– scaling transportation activity faster than internal teams can support
If your teams are spending more time chasing updates than improving operations, it may be time to evaluate a more coordinated logistics structure.
A freight forwarder primarily coordinates the physical movement of freight. A 3PL provides a broader operational structure that can include transportation management, customs brokerage, warehousing, technology platforms, supply chain visibility, and ongoing logistics optimization. Shapiro operates as a full-service 3PL with freight forwarding integrated into the larger transportation strategy.
A 3PL executes logistics services directly, while a 4PL typically oversees and coordinates multiple logistics providers and systems strategically. Shapiro bridges both models by combining hands-on logistics execution with broader operational oversight, visibility, and consulting support through one integrated relationship.
Build a More Coordinated
Supply Chain
Freight moves more effectively when transportation, customs, visibility, and operational planning work together instead of operating in separate silos. Shapiro helps businesses bring those moving parts together through one integrated 3PL relationship designed to improve communication, reduce operational friction, and strengthen long-term supply chain performance. When freight, compliance, reporting, and provider coordination operate from the same playbook, businesses gain faster response times, clearer visibility, and fewer operational surprises along the way.
Ready to strengthen the pulse of your supply chain?
