Prioritize transit time to core customer zones, carrier coverage and negotiated rates, WMS and API integration for real-time inventory and orders, dock doors and staging capacity to support peak throughput, returns processing capabilities, and transparent pricing that separates fixed storage from variable pick/pack and fulfillment fees.

Review regional highway access and typical drayage routes to nearby seaports and intermodal terminals, analyze historical transit-time data for major lanes, confirm 3PL carrier relationships for LTL and parcel contracts, and model consolidation or cross-dock options to reduce zone charges and improve on-time performance.

Key specifications include ceiling height and racking density (affects storage cost per pallet), dock door count and staging area (affects throughput), WMS functionality for order routing and batching, automation readiness, and availability of value-added services such as kitting, labeling, and lot/serial tracking.

Negotiate clear SLAs for order accuracy and on-time delivery, itemized fee schedules for storage, pick/pack, and returns, agreed lead times for scaling labor, inventory reconciliation frequency, minimum volume commitments, and performance review cadence with defined chargebacks or remedies tied to KPIs.