Assess location relative to national hubs and customer clusters, WMS and API/EDI integration, throughput capacity and SLA history, value-added services (kitting, returns, temperature control), labor scalability and training, carrier portfolio for last-mile reach, and transparent billing that matches your order profile and seasonality.

Optimize by using demand-driven network design, consolidating shipments, negotiating blended carrier rates, leveraging cross-docking and flow-through operations, and applying slotting and labor productivity measures. Require routing and carrier optimization from the 3PL to reduce per-shipment transport spend.

Require a robust WMS with barcode/RF scanning, real-time inventory APIs or EDI, order-management and TMS connectivity, configurable reporting dashboards, and support for ASN, batch/lot tracking, and cycle-count procedures to maintain omnichannel visibility and accuracy.

Benchmark using KPIs such as order accuracy, on-time shipment rate, inventory accuracy, dock-to-stock time, labor cost per pick, storage utilization, and damage/return rates. Conduct site visits, check references, verify insurance and compliance, and validate SLA terms and penalty structures before contracting.