Prioritize location relative to port and highways, facility footprint and racking, temperature control and bonded options, WMS/API integration, inventory visibility, turnaround times, carrier connectivity, and scalability. Validate via site audits, SLA samples and reference checks before contracting.

Access to Geraldton Port, regional trucking corridors and airport freight reduces internal drayage and consolidation costs, improving transit predictability. Multimodal options let 3PLs optimize carrier mixes for volume and transit time, lowering per‑order landed cost when routed efficiently.

Confirm pick‑and‑pack accuracy, multi‑channel order routing, returns processing, kitting and value‑add services, SLA definitions for cut‑offs and same‑day dispatch, carrier integrations, shipment tracking, and capacity for peak volumes or promotional spikes.

Geraldton often offers lower land and operating costs, which reduces fixed warehousing spend and supports regional stock deployment to serve Mid‑West customers. However, evaluate total landed cost, trunk‑haul fees to Perth, demand density and service targets to decide if inventory decentralization yields net savings.

Negotiate KPIs for OTIF, order accuracy, pick speed, inventory accuracy and lead‑time variance. Include chargebacks, performance tiers, capacity surge clauses, WMS access and data ownership, minimum notice for scale changes, audit rights and clear termination terms tied to measured performance.