Signing with a 3PL without asking the right questions first is how a company ends up paying for a relationship that doesn't work and can't easily get out of it. Most contracts run 24 to 36 months. That's a long time to find out the hard way. Start with inventory visibility. Ask them specifically how cycle counts are conducted, who initiates them, how often, and what system they use to record results. If the answer is vague — "we use our WMS" — push harder. What WMS? How doe

Picking the wrong 3PL doesn't blow up on day one. It drips. A pallet goes missing in week two. The cycle count numbers don't match yours in week six. By month three you're spending more time auditing their work than running your own operation. I've seen it happen more than once, and almost every time, the red flags were there at the sales stage — nobody just knew to look for them. The first thing I watch is how they answer questions about their WMS. If the response is a bro