ABSTRACT
The first third-party logistics providers (3PLs) arrived on the scene in the 1970s, mainly as the result of diversification by either transportation or public warehousing companies. It is significant the very operational mindset of those early 3PLs has, in many cases, carried on through to today and herein lies part of the problem. Historically, transport, warehousing, shipping, containerization and other core logistics services have represented one of the least dynamic components of global trading activity. They have been more a commodity function than key contributor to trading success. The post-1970s era saw massive growth in outsourced provider services across all the core functions, with logistics providers' apparent expertise in the services they offered driving the growth in outsourcing to third parties. A key advantage of the move to specialized supply chain solutions was the insight gained by providers of their shippers' businesses. As outsourced service providers, the providers were always uniquely placed to add ancillary activities to their service offerings.
