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Los Angeles Logistics Efficiency Strategies for 3PL Cost Savings

Every company in the world wants effective and efficient logistics operations. But it’s not easy. 

There are so many variables to account when it comes to making a timely and mistake-free delivery. From extreme weather to traffic, the potential sources of disruption are seemingly endless. A well-planned logistics strategy can, however, minimize the impact of these disruptions and keep your customers happy. 

Here are a few tried and true strategies to keep your logistics operations efficient and low cost. 

1. Carefully Plan the Location of Your Warehousing Facilities

The key to logistics efficiency is minimizing the distance goods need to move. Optimizing the location of your storage facility can unlock these efficiencies. 

To keep it as simple as possible, your warehouses need to be located near other key points in the supply chain. If, for instance, your company imports goods from overseas, you must have a warehouse in close proximity to the port of entry. But you can’t forget your customer base. 

With that in mind, it’s best practice to locate your facilities in a location that’s equidistant to a nearby port and population centers. This can unlock logistics efficiencies by cutting down on costs such as gas while reducing the impact of unforeseen delays caused by weather and traffic.

2. Outsource Your Warehousing

Very few companies have the resources to build new warehousing facilities–particularly in areas in which land is expensive, like southern California. Partnering with a 3PL provider can be your company’s ticket to cost savings. 

Outsourcing your warehousing to a third-party can create a range of logistics efficiencies for your business, with the most obvious one being that you don’t need to invest millions of dollars in building or leasing warehousing space. You also don’t need to worry about paying for energy costs and labor. Instead, you pay a monthly rate to have your items securely stored until they’re needed. 

3. Consider Your Transportation Options

Logistics is the art and science of moving items from one location to the next. You can usually discover new efficiencies when you focus on the means by which items are being transported between stages in the supply chain. 

For example, if you’re a company that sells goods that simply fly off the shelves, you can’t afford to have items stuck on a pallet in a warehouse facility. A 3PL vendor that offers services like cross-docking, in which teams unload outbound trucks, move items through the facility, and immediately place them on an outbound truck, can pay dividends in this case. 

Or, maybe you’re a company that needs to quickly transport goods from a maritime port to a broader inland transportation network. In that case, you will likely want to seek out a vendor with experience in transloading. 

By mastering the movement of goods, your company can cut down on delayed deliveries and keep your customers satisfied. 

Create a More Efficient Logistics Operation Today

Cummins Transportation is here to help your company conquer supply chain logistics. Our facility in Commerce, CA is located within 20 miles of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long, and downtown Los Angeles and Anaheim. We also have a skilled team that can offer services like cross-loading and transloading. 

3rd Party Logistics Warehousing for Startups: Why Los Angeles is the Perfect Fit

Los Angeles is one of the nation’s entrepreneurial hubs. 

According to The Economist, the city ranks third in the country for startup activity, behind only San Francisco and New York City. E-commerce startups, in particular, are thriving in the City of Angels. The website Built in LA, which shares news from the tech industry in LA, includes profiles from 904 southern California-based e-commerce companies. 

This, perhaps, shouldn’t come as a surprise. E-commerce companies are laser-focused on mastering logistics. LA’s proximity to major ports and transportation networks makes it the perfect spot for startups to set up shop. 

Let’s dive a bit deeper. 

From the Port to Your Doorstep

Many e-commerce startups rely on goods imported from overseas. Getting these goods from a container ship to their customer’s doorsteps can, however, be a challenge. 

The first question that must be addressed is where the items should be stored until they’re included in an order. Most startups have limited resources. Renting out e-commerce warehouse space isn’t an option for most startups focused on optimizing their logistics. This is where Los Angeles’ status as a hub for e-commerce startups comes in handy. 

Throughout the region, there is high demand among companies – both small and large ones alike – for storage space. 3PL providers have responded by creating services for e-commerce startups. Because of the high demand, competition among 3PL providers is fierce, and many have innovated their services to stay ahead of their competitors. 

Here are a few of these innovations:

Cross-Docking

As mentioned earlier, nailing logistics is a top concern for every e-commerce startup. With cross-docking, shipments retrieved from either of southern California’s ports are transported to a nearby warehouse facility, unloaded by warehouse employees, and then immediately placed on an outbound truck. It’s a service seemingly designed for e-commerce startups facing near constant customer demand. 

Month-by-Month Leasing

Many third-party logistics providers in the Los Angeles area, like Cummins Transportation, have moved away from locking clients into annual contracts. Instead, companies can make adjustments monthly based on their changing needs. This is especially important for rapidly-growing e-commerce startups since demand levels can quickly rise and fall, which can make logistics planning challenging. 

Inventory Management Software

Most Los Angeles e-commerce startups purchase software subscriptions to streamline tasks such as project management, marketing, and sales. The costs of these subscriptions can add up. Fortunately, many 3PL vendors are footing the bill for the inventory management software that e-commerce startups need to do business. This software offers real-time visibility into inventory levels, which provides e-commerce startups with the insight they need to know if they can meet current and future levels of customer demand and decide when to reorder items. 

Setting Up Shop in SoCal

If you’re a newly-launched startup in need of logistics support, Cummins Transportation can help. For more than 45 years, we’ve helped southern California businesses master the art and science of logistics within the region. We offer cross-docking services, month-to-month leases, and access to our cloud inventory management software. Talk to an expert today!

Successful Import Logistics for the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach

At the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, trade never stops. 

In August 2024 alone, nearly 1.9 million shipping containers passed through the two ports – and the amount continues to rise. But the arrival of imported goods at either port is only the beginning of their journey. In fact, the next steps in the shipping process are arguably the most complicated. 

So, what does it take to master import logistics in southern California? Let’s dive into it. 

From the Ports to Your Facilities

Companies importing goods through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have two options once their shipments arrive: Move the goods directly to their facilities via truck or store them in a nearby, third-party warehouse until they are needed. Let’s walk through the advantages and disadvantages of each import logistics strategy.

Shipping Directly to Your Facilities

Some companies choose to handle shipping directly from the Ports of Los Angeles or Long Beach on their own. And there’s some merit to this approach. 

When you choose to partner with a third-party warehousing provider, you are necessarily giving up control over a component of your supply chain. While there are many reputable vendors in this space, the managers and employees of these warehouses are not directly employed by the company. For companies that consider import logistics a competitive advantage, the inability to make personnel decisions and establish processes at the warehouses could be a dealbreaker. 

But this arrangement can prove to be too costly for many businesses. It requires either purchasing existing warehousing facilities or purchasing expensive land in Los Angeles County to build new ones. From there, companies need to pay individual employees along with other facility costs, such as utilities and maintenance. And this doesn’t even factor in transportation costs. 

Fortunately, companies with limited resources have alternative import logistics solutions available to them. 

Partnering with a Third-Party Logistics Company

3PL providers offer companies the cost-effective support they need to implement and manage a successful logistics strategy.   

It’s simple. After shipments arrive at either the Port of Los Angeles or Long Beach, a truck from a third-party transportation company or the company’s own fleet picks it up and then delivers it to a nearby warehousing facility. One of several things can happen next in the import logistics process. 

• If there isn’t an urgent need for the goods, the company can store them at the warehouse until a customer places an order, or until the company needs to use the item in question. 
• After the shipment arrives at the warehouse facility, the staff can immediately move it from the inbound truck to an outbound truck without breaking down the pallet. This process is typically called cross-docking. 
• Finally, the warehousing provider can transfer the goods from a truck to a different form of transportation, such as a train, in a process called transloading. 

Outsourcing import logistics to a 3PL provider not only reduces storage and transportation costs, but also potentially reduces late deliveries and errors. Managers of warehouses located near the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have a deep understanding of how these ports operate, local roadways, and sources of delays. 

Of course, not all 3PL providers can deliver successful logistics solutions. Here are a few questions worth asking when you’re evaluating 3PL vendors. 

1. Do You Offer Inventory Tracking?

If your company is like most others, you’re frequently importing goods into the country. Import logistics can quickly become challenging with keeping track of how much of your inventory is stored within your 3PL provider’s warehouse facilities. 

Luckily, many top 3PL companies have made inventory management easy for their clients. Modern inventory management software supports successful logistics by allowing clients access to real-time data about their inventory levels and other key metrics such as order processing time, shipment status, and stock levels. 

2. Are Your Service Contracts Month-to-Month?

The needs of a business can change quickly. One month, your company could need a significant amount of storage space, and the next month you might not need nearly as much. 

Some 3PL operators lock their clients into long-term deals that fail to account for changing business conditions that affect import logistics. You can avoid this by seeking out vendors that offer month-to-month contracts.

3. Can I Talk With One of Your Current Clients? 

Many 3PL operators claim to provide superior customer service. But in some cases, their customers don’t necessarily agree.

Rather than taking their claims at face value, ask to speak with one of their customers. They can give you insight into how quickly their issues have been addressed by the vendor. 

Trust Cummins Logistics for Your Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach Shipments

For more than 40 years, Cummins Logistics has helped companies get their goods from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to their customers nationwide. Find out more about our successful logistics solutions today!