Why Third-Party Logistics Make More Sense in Economic Uncertainty

No one predicted its arrival and no one can predict where it will take us. The only thing we know is that our businesses and lives are very different than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Business is difficult enough at the best of times. But uncertainty, especially unprecedented uncertainty, is more than a regular challenge. In addition to interrupting your day-to-day business through affected sales, it removes the basis on which you plan for the future. It can be destabilizing not just for your business, but for everyone involved in it, including employees, suppliers, customers and owners.

How 3PLs Can Help You Manage Economic Uncertainty

If every company could instantly scale itself to suit every economic environment, then navigating uncertain times wouldn’t be as difficult. If sales go down, all you’d need to do is cut your costs to suit, and quickly add capacity when they go back up again.

But, back to reality, the best option for shippers, warehousers and manufacturers is to become more scalable in as many ways as possible.

Third-party logistics helps you do just that in many areas of your business.

1. Warehousing – Maintaining warehousing space when sales are down, puts a huge burden on your overhead. Similarly, it may be difficult to measure the true costs of not having the space you need when opportunity knocks. Having options, like PiVAL’s warehousing services, can help you be more nimble when needed.
2. Transportation – COVID-19 wasn’t the first threat to your usual transportation options in 2020. In Canada, railway blockades meant finding new modes to transport goods across the country. Internationally, Brexit and the Australian wildfires may have affected any links in your supply chain located in those countries. With a 3PL partner, finding alternative transportation, or scaling your overall transportation needs, is just a phone call away.
3. Supply-Chain Management – Even if your business endures through uncertainties, it still may be affected by disruptions in its supply chain. 3PLs can help you find alternatives. 

To learn more about managing business uncertainties, check out our post “How Expedite Services help in Medical Emergencies”.