Assess road and rail links to major trade corridors, proximity to customs entry points, bonded warehousing options, and the 3PL's established carrier network for last‑mile and intermodal lanes. Review technological integrations (WMS/TMS/APIs), average transit times, and contingency capacity for seasonal peaks.

Mechi Zone can lower transit times for eastern-origin shipments and reduce land costs, but infrastructure maturity varies. Expect competitive landed-costs for eastbound flows; however, validate actual lane rates, handling fees, and multimodal transfer times with prospective 3PLs to quantify savings.

Many 3PLs offer customs brokerage, bonded storage, and documentation for cross-border eCommerce, but capabilities differ. Confirm bonded warehouse capacity, export compliance expertise, real-time inventory visibility, and partnerships with international carriers before committing.

Require inventory accuracy, order cycle time, on‑time in‑full (OTIF), pick/pack accuracy, dock-to-delivery lead time, and returns processing SLAs. Also include periodic audits, scalability clauses, and penalties or incentives tied to measured performance.

Prioritize carrier reach for urban and rural delivery, reverse logistics workflows, integration with marketplaces and POS systems, pickup point networks, and transparent cost-per-return metrics. Verify the 3PL's experience handling split-shipments, B2B pallet moves, and customer-facing SLA commitments.