Prioritize order accuracy, OTIF (on-time in-full), average pick-and-pack time, inventory accuracy, dock-to-stock velocity, cost per order, and returns processing time. Also validate reporting cadence, real-time WMS visibility, and integration capability with your OMS/TMS to ensure SLA transparency.

Close access to primary highways and CN/CP rail reduces drayage and enables more efficient freight consolidation and routing, lowering per-shipment costs and transit times. This improves last-mile reliability and gives options for multi-modal optimization when balancing speed and cost.

Require flexible clear heights and modular racking, sufficient dock and cross-dock capacity, climate-controlled zones if needed, scalable labor pools, staging and returns-processing areas, and the ability to add pick/pack automation or kitting services without major retrofit.

Lower land and labor rates typically reduce base storage and handling charges, improving unit economics and ROI. Assess total landed cost—transportation, service levels, and seasonal labor premium—since savings on occupancy can be offset by longer transit if carrier access is weaker for specific lanes.

Negotiate clear KPIs with service credits, defined lead times for onboarding and volume ramps, transparent pricing models, minimum notice periods for changes, data-access and audit rights, and defined dispute resolution to protect service continuity and scalability.