Prioritize proximity to deepwater berths and container terminals, intermodal rail terminals connecting to the New Eurasian Land Bridge, and access to national expressways. Also confirm 3PL relationships with major ocean carriers, rail operators, and reliable local trucking partners to minimize handoffs and dwell time.

Bonded zones reduce duties and allow deferred customs processing, improving cash flow and enabling consolidation for export. Evaluate the 3PL's bonded warehousing capabilities, customs broker integration, and average clearance times—these directly impact lead time, detention risk, and landed cost.

Expect a mix of ambient, temperature-controlled, and bonded storage, plus cross-docking, pick-and-pack, kitting, labeling, and returns processing. Strong providers offer WMS/TMS integration, real-time inventory visibility, EDI/API carrier links, and configurable SLAs to support omnichannel order flows.

Use KPIs such as door-to-door lead time, port dwell, inland transit days, inventory days of supply, and landed cost per SKU (transport, duties, handling, inventory carrying). Run a before/after cost-to-serve model and pilot shipments to validate carrier ETAs, demurrage exposure, and actual handling costs.