How to Evaluate a 3PL: The RFP Checklist for Shippers

The questions to ask, the proof to require, and what a provider’s answers reveal about how they will actually perform once your product is on their dock.

According to Armstrong & Associates, 94 percent of domestic Fortune 500 companies now work with at least one 3PL, with U.S. 3PL revenues estimated at $424.3 billion in 2025. Outsourcing logistics is no longer the question. Choosing the right partner is.

And the stakes of that choice are rising. The 2026 Annual Third-Party Logistics Study found that half of shippers are consolidating the number of 3PL partners they use, which means each remaining relationship carries a larger share of the business. While 88 percent of shippers report their 3PL relationships are successful, the relationships that fail rarely fail on price. They fail on operations, and the warning signs were usually visible during the RFP.

Here is how to evaluate a 3PL: what to define before you write the RFP, what to ask in it, and how to read the answers.

Start Before the RFP: Define What You Actually Need

An RFP is only as good as the requirements behind it. Before a single question goes out, document your operation in the language a 3PL will price against: order profiles (pallet, case, or each), daily and peak volumes, SKU counts, temperature requirements, channels served, value-added needs like kitting or display builds, and where volume is headed over the contract term.

Vague inputs produce vague proposals, and vague proposals produce pricing that gets corrected after go-live. The hidden 3PL costs that never show up on a rate card usually trace back to requirements nobody wrote down.

Operational Capability and Scale

This section of the RFP establishes whether a provider runs your kind of operation today or is proposing to build it on your dime.

Pick-level capability. Does the provider run pallet, case, and each picking side by side right now, and at what daily volumes? An operation already executing your order profile at scale carries a different risk than one promising to stand it up. If direct-to-consumer volume is in scope, the each-pick bar rises again, and our guide to e-commerce fulfillment covers what that demands of an operation.

Hours and peak coverage. Is the operation 24/7/365 and staffed to seasonal and industry peaks? Ask what last peak looked like: volumes absorbed, where accuracy held, and how labor was planned.

Value-added services. Are kitting, repacking, display builds, and cross-dock routine in-house work or handled as exceptions? Routine work is priced and staffed differently than favors.

Temperature capability. For food and beverage, confirm multi-temperature zones, the monitoring systems behind them, and the documentation trail an auditor would see.

Performance Metrics and How They Are Proven

Every provider claims strong service levels. The RFP’s job is to separate measured performance from marketing.

Require named KPIs with methodology: order accuracy, on-time shipment, inventory accuracy, and dock-to-stock time, plus how each number is calculated, how often it is reported, and whether customers see it in real time or in a month-end PDF. Then ask what service level agreements the provider will commit to and what happens when a commitment is missed. The 2026 study found service level agreements are the most common way shippers and 3PLs connect.

BGDC operates at 99.5 percent order accuracy across pallet, case, and each picking, measured continuously and visible to customers, which is the standard of proof worth demanding from any provider.

People, Training, and Safety

Facilities do not run operations. People do, and labor is where 3PL relationships most often quietly degrade.

Ask how the provider staffs: direct associates or heavy reliance on staffing agencies. Ask about training programs, safety programs and performance, leadership tenure, and specifically who would run your operation day to day. High turnover shows up later as error rates, peak failures, and a general manager you have never met. A provider proud of its people will put them in front of you.

Technology, Visibility, and AI

Technology has moved from a differentiator to a deal-breaker: the 2026 Annual Third-Party Logistics Study found 74 percent of shippers would switch 3PL providers based on AI capabilities.

The checklist here is concrete. What WMS runs the floor, and what are the integration paths to your systems, storefronts, and EDI networks? Is inventory visibility real time? What does the customer-facing reporting layer actually look like? And where is AI applied in production today rather than on a roadmap slide?

Press for specifics on all four. A provider that answers the WMS question with a vendor name and nothing else has told you the floor runs on software, not that the software will reach your systems. BGDC answers that question with its own proprietary integration platform, and with AI already in production rather than pending: camera systems tracking trailers in customer yards, and on-premises tools that put operational information in associates’ hands on the floor.

Compliance and Certifications, Facility by Facility

Certifications are held at the facility level, not the company level, so ask for them facility by facility. A provider’s headquarters certificate does not audit the building your product will sit in.

For food and beverage shippers, that means confirming SQF certification, USDA Organic handling, HACCP-based food safety programs, and FSMA readiness at the specific sites in scope. BGDC holds SQF and USDA Organic certification at food-grade sites, and what those programs demand day to day is laid out in our CPG retail compliance guide.

Commercial Structure and Partnership Terms

The 2026 study found shippers name supply chain disruptions (81 percent) and cost optimization through collaboration (76 percent) among the top drivers for strategic 3PL partnerships. Both require contract structures that reward transparency.

Look for a transparent pricing model with clearly defined triggers for any surcharges, continuous improvement targets with shared benefit, a governance cadence of scheduled business reviews rather than escalation-only contact, and terms flexible enough to scale with your volume. A provider that resists measurable commitments during the RFP will not become more accountable after signature.

Price per pallet is only part of the picture. Score every bid on total cost-to-serve, including the chargebacks, detention, and inventory errors a weak partner leaves behind.

And if you are still weighing whether a change is worth the disruption at all, we ran that comparison separately in the real cost of switching 3PLs.

“We come in, we want to understand the root cause of their supply chain issues, and we develop a strategic plan along with the partner in taking action to address those issues. We track it along the way, we give two-way feedback, and we’re very transparent in our findings.”

Chad Ware, Chief Revenue Officer, BGDC Distribution

Red Flags in RFP Responses

A few patterns reliably predict trouble. Metrics quoted without methodology. No site visit offered, or a visit steered away from the floor. Pricing dramatically below the rest of the field, which usually means something you need was excluded. No named operational leadership for your account. And reference lists made up entirely of new customers, because tenure is the reference that matters.

None of these alone disqualifies a provider. Two or more should change your scoring.

How BGDC Answers the RFP

Every question on this checklist is one BGDC expects to answer in writing. More than 3 million square feet of operations across Forest Park, Georgia; Roanoke, Virginia; and St. Louis, Missouri. More than 2,000 associates on 24/7/365 shifts. Order accuracy measured continuously at 99.5 percent rather than sampled and reported after the fact.

Pallet, case, and each-pick capability, kitting and repacking, cross-dock, and multi-temperature zones are how the operation runs, not services added on request. The general manager who would run your account has a name and a tenure, and you meet them before signature.