Fulfillment Focus

Logo churn starts at the RFP

Slotted Admin — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Logo churn starts at the RFP

The providers that grow aren't closing the most deals. They're closing the right ones. Plus a $604M wake-up call.

While preparing for an upcoming panel on Winning the 3PL RFP Race, I received an email asking for my thoughts on logo churn among 3PLs serving emerging and mid-market brands.

At first, they seemed like completely different topics. One is about winning new business. The other is about keeping the business you already have. But they're really the same conversation.

It starts with fit.

The providers that consistently earn great customer relationships aren't the ones closing the most deals. They're the ones closing the right deals. They know where they create value, qualify opportunities accordingly, and build partnerships around realistic expectations. Price matters, but discounting is usually just delaying the inevitable if the fit isn't there.

Adding five new logos sounds like growth. It isn't if you lose four along the way. The providers that grow consistently are just as focused on retaining the right customers as they are on winning the next one. And you can only retain customers when the Fit equation is working.

WHAT’S TRENDING

📦 A $604M verdict changes the conversation around carrier selection

A Dallas jury ordered freight broker C.H. Robinson to pay $604 million over a 2021 crash involving a carrier it hired, marking the first major broker liability verdict since the Supreme Court cleared the way for negligent-hiring claims earlier this year.

The ruling reaches beyond freight brokers. Any provider arranging transportation on behalf of a customer should take notice. Carrier selection, documentation, and safety reviews are becoming more than operational best practices. They are increasingly part of a company's risk management strategy.

If your team hasn't recently reviewed how carriers are vetted, what records are retained, and where liability sits in customer agreements, now is a good time to revisit those processes.

Commercial Carrier Journal → | FreightWaves →

📦 AI is taking on more work, but not more responsibility

Two announcements this week point to the next phase of AI in logistics.

J.B. Hunt spun its internal freight AI platform into a standalone company that automates many of the coordination tasks traditionally handled by operations teams. At the same time, Altana acquired Cervo AI, whose software prepares customs filings for licensed brokers to review and certify.

In both cases, the software performs more of the work, but accountability still belongs to the operator signing off on the outcome.

Companies getting the most value from AI continue to have one thing in common: clean product, inventory, and operational data that the technology can reliably work from.

FreightWaves → | DC Velocity →

📦 Location continues to matter

Amazon announced plans for a $1 billion fulfillment center on Long Island, one of its largest facilities in the Northeast and strategically positioned to serve the New York City market.

The investment reinforces a broader trend. Well-located warehouse space near major population centers remains difficult to replace and increasingly valuable as delivery expectations continue to rise.

For providers already operating in those markets, location remains a competitive advantage that's worth emphasizing during customer conversations.

DC Velocity →

Also This Week

📦 The latest tariff changes are now in effect. New Section 301 tariffs covering imports from more than 60 countries took effect July 24, replacing the temporary Section 122 surcharge. Two importers filed suit the same day challenging the new rules. Brands importing product may want to revisit landed-cost assumptions established before the changes. NBC News → | Liberty Justice Center →

PARTNER HIGHLIGHT

Partner Highlight: Conduit

Cargo theft does not always look like a break-in anymore. A lot of it now walks up to the dock with paperwork that looks right. A driver shows up for a load, the name roughly matches the tender, the freight leaves, and it turns out the person behind the wheel was never who they claimed to be. For a warehouse or 3PL, that risk lives at one specific moment, driver check-in.

Conduit is dock scheduling and yard management software that puts a real verification step between a driver and your freight, replacing the phone calls, spreadsheets, and clipboard sign-in sheets that make it easy for a bad actor to slip through.

Where operators see the biggest impact:

Confirm a driver's physical location before check-in is allowed, so nobody can check in remotely for a load they should not have
Capture a driver's license scan and match it to the scheduled appointment, so you know exactly who is taking the product
Build custom check-in flows that collect the specific documents a given customer or lane requires
Keep every dock action visible and timestamped, so you have a clean record if a load is ever disputed
Give the front line one consistent process instead of a different judgment call at every shift

Conduit put together a free resource, the 2026 Cargo Theft Prevention Playbook, that lays out where fraud is showing up at the dock and the check-in steps that cut most of it off. It pairs with the carrier question earlier in this issue: knowing who you tendered the load to only helps if you also confirm who actually shows up to take it.

Get the Playbook

OPPORTUNITIES IN FULFILLMENT

Regional Sales Manager @ RR Donnelley | New York

Director of Procurement @ Shipbob | Remote

VP Client Experience @ Geodis | Tennessee

Director of Finance @ NFI Industries | New Jersey

VP AI & Workflow Automation @ Crane WW | Texas

Peak is already here, whether you're ready or not

Slotted Admin — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Peak is already here, whether you're ready or not

Record port volume, new FedEx surcharges, and the case for simplifying before you automate

As we head into August, we're seeing an uptick in brands beginning to evaluate their fulfillment strategy for next year.

Those conversations usually start with questions about providers, pricing, and geography. They almost always end up being about data. The brands that make the best decisions are the ones that invest the time up front to understand their order profile, catalog, seasonality, and operational requirements before they ever start comparing providers.

We've been thinking about that a lot at Slotted over the past few months as we've rebuilt large parts of our RFP platform. The product has evolved quite a bit over the last 20 months, but the principles behind it haven't changed.

We still believe better fulfillment decisions come from better information. Structure creates transparency. Transparency brings clarity. And clarity leads to better decisions for both brands and providers.

More recently, we've added another test to everything we build. Does it create an "ah-ha" moment for the user?

Maybe it's a brand finally understanding why SKU-level data matters during pricing, or a provider immediately recognizing how seasonality actually impacts what looked like a perfect opportunity on paper. Those are the moments that lead to better decisions for everyone involved.

It was rewarding to see that reflected in feedback we received last week from a first time user.

WHAT’S TRENDING

Parcel and customs fees are getting repriced

FedEx moved 63 ZIP codes into its highest-priced Remote tier on July 20, adding an $11.20 surcharge on qualifying commercial packages.

More changes arrive August 3, when FedEx expands its inbound processing fee to all 27 EU member states following the EU's removal of duty-free treatment for low-value imports. Amazon also begins its holiday fulfillment surcharges October 15.

Most of these costs don't show up in the transportation rates brands compare. They appear later through ZIP classifications, customs processing fees, and seasonal surcharges. It's a good time to rerate high-volume SKUs by lane and destination before peak begins.

ShipScience → | FreightWaves →

Peak shipping is already arriving

The Port of Los Angeles handled 1,002,734 TEUs in June, its busiest June in 118 years and up 12% from last year.

Executive Director Gene Seroka said retailers have largely abandoned traditional seasonal shipping patterns, choosing instead to move inventory whenever pricing and capacity create an opportunity.

For fulfillment providers, receiving schedules, labor planning, and dock utilization may start feeling peak pressure weeks earlier than the calendar suggests.

Port of Los Angeles →

Tech: Simplify and solidify before you automate

Amazon is investing roughly $200 million to rebuild its Port St. Lucie fulfillment center around robotics, temporarily taking the facility offline during construction. Walmart, by comparison, has upgraded more than half of its regional distribution centers with automation while keeping operations running.

The same pattern is showing up outside the warehouse. Dell's supply chain leadership recently argued that AI delivers the most value after workflows have been standardized, while Levi's continues consolidating multiple ERP systems onto a single SAP platform.

Whether the investment is robotics or AI, the approach is remarkably consistent: simplify the operation and solidify the process first, then automate it.

Supply Chain Dive →

Also This Week

📦Tariffs continue to evolve. The White House imposed a 50% tariff on a range of Canadian goods under Section 338, while the temporary Section 122 surcharge expires July 24. Replacement duties affecting imports from as many as 60 countries are expected to follow, with new tariffs likely stacking on top of existing ones. White House → | PBS →

📦CMA CGM expands its North American logistics footprint. The company agreed to acquire FedEx Supply Chain for $1.4 billion, nearly tripling Ceva Logistics' contract logistics presence in North America and continuing the broader consolidation trend among large logistics providers. Commercial Carrier Journal → | Maritime Executive →

PARTNER HIGHLIGHT

Highlight: Northstar Boat Ride NYC

The Northstar Boat Ride NYC is an event for verified fulfillment providers, brands, carriers, and logistics technology companies. Slotted parent company owner Aaron Alpeter will be participating in one of the executive panel alongside executives from Caraway, Rho Nutrition, ShipHero, and Third Person

Fulfillment Focus readers can use code SLOTTED99 for discounted Standard tickets. The offer is limited to the first 35 registrations.

Through August 1: $89 instead of $129
After August 1: $99 instead of $149

The event takes place Tuesday, August 25, departing from Brooklyn Army Terminal at 6:15 PM. Programming includes dinner, networking, and panels on brand reputation, AI, and the future of fulfillment.

OPPORTUNITIES IN FULFILLMENT

Sales Development Executive @ RR Donnelley | Pennsylvania

Director of Sales, Automotive @ Flexport | Illinois

VP, Sales - Intermodal @ Odyssey | Illinois

Director of Sales @ NFI Industries | California

Tighten Up Before Peak

Slotted Admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Tighten Up Before Peak

USPS reprices parcels, ocean rates climb, and brands continue looking for simpler networks.

The closer we get to peak, the more the conversation shifts from growth to execution. Execution is easier when things are "simple", or at least as least complex as possible. Like streamlining your provider or vendor relationships. You do need to get to a "one stop shop" solution, but having the right partners and touchpoints is critical.

Case in point: Tommy John moved from multiple fulfillment providers to a single partner. Visibility and operational simplicity outweighed the perceived benefits of a larger network.

It's a useful reminder that "bigger" isn't always better.

Along the same lines, For many ecommerce brands, one well-run node or two strategically placed facilities will outperform a larger network that adds cost, inventory complexity, and operational overhead. As pricing changes work their way through the supply chain, expect more brands to take a harder look at where complexity is actually creating value.

WHAT’S TRENDING

Brands continue simplifying their fulfillment networks

Tommy John consolidated its U.S. fulfillment with Cart.com, moving from multiple providers to a single operation in Terrell, Texas.

According to the company, the biggest benefit wasn't transportation savings. It was visibility. A single view of inventory replaced the constant reconciliation that came with managing inventory across multiple providers.

For providers, this is another reminder that simplicity has value. Clear inventory visibility and operational consistency can become differentiators long before price does.

USPS is repricing dimensional weight

Starting July 12, USPS lowers its dimensional divisor from 166 to 139 and rounds package dimensions up to the next whole inch, bringing pricing closer to FedEx and UPS.

📦️ Large, lightweight shipments will see the biggest impact.

📦️ Some Ground Advantage Commercial shipments lose ounce-based pricing entirely.

If you haven't rerated your highest-volume SKUs against the new dimensional rules, now is the time. Those costs will show up immediately.

Supply Chain Dive → | Federal Register →

Peak season is arriving early

Ocean freight continues climbing as retailers move holiday inventory earlier than usual.

📦️ China to U.S. West Coast rates reached nearly $6,000 per FEU, roughly triple where they were in late February.

📦️ Rail surcharges are expanding across Southern California as inland volume builds.

Receiving schedules, dock capacity, and labor planning may start feeling peak pressure well before the traditional holiday rush.

JOC → | Averitt →

Another cross-border change arrives July 24

Beginning July 24, international postal shipments will require full customs entry data, including 10-digit HTS codes. At the same time, the temporary postal duty workaround expires.

For brands shipping internationally, brokerage, consolidation, and landed-cost planning become more important with every shipment.

One number worth watching

Amazon's four-day Prime Day generated $26.4B in sales, up 9.3% year over year.

But the real takeaway: Average basket size declined, meaning fulfillment teams handled more orders to generate the same revenue. If this is an indicator of buying patterns heading into peak season, fulfillment teams will need to make sure they have their assumptions for peak planning dialed in.

CNBC →

PARTNER HIGHLIGHT

2026 IWLA Fulfillment Forum

When & Where: Aug. 6 & 7 | Schaumburg, Illinois

The Vibe: A working room of warehouse and fulfillment operators, not a vendor expo floor.

ROI Hook: Benchmark your labor, automation, and pricing decisions against peers before you commit capital to them.

Who to Send: Your head of operations or GM, plus whoever owns operational strategy.

Why it's right for SMB 3PLs: The Forum skews toward mid-market warehousing and fulfillment providers facing the exact pressures in this issue, including carrier reshuffling, automation payback, and labor cost. The sessions are practitioner-led, so the takeaways tend to be things you can apply to a real P&L rather than conceptual or theoretical fluff.

Pro Tip: If you're a first timer, take advantage of the opening reception and structured breaks. The event may feel "cliquey" at first but it's because the are real relationships built over years of shared experience and participation in IWLA. The best way to maximize your ROI is to invest in the relationship with people at this event.

BONUS: I'll be taking the stage with Mike DeFabis from IDS (powered by DHL) to talk about Strategies for Winning the 3PL RFP Race. Hope to see you there!

OPPORTUNITIES IN FULFILLMENT

Sales Executive @ Radiant Delivers | Remote

Head of Procurement @ Stord | Remote

Head of Billing @ Stord | Remote

Head of Sales @ DHL | Remote

FIFA Logistics Overview →

The Supply Chain Behind the World Cup

Slotted Admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000

The Supply Chain Behind the World Cup

The tournament is one of the largest logistics operations in the world.

Coming out of the Fourth of July weekend this week's Fulfilment Focus is brief and all about the World Cup.

Next week will be back to the regular format!

The Supply Chain Behind the World Cup

When people think about the FIFA World Cup, they think about the matches. Operators tend to think about everything that has to happen before the opening whistle.

With 48 national teams, three host countries, 16 stadiums, dozens of training facilities, and millions of fans moving throughout North America, the tournament is one of the largest logistics operations in the world.

Every part of the supply chain gets involved:

Customs and international freight for team equipment and broadcast assets
Warehousing and distribution supporting venues, sponsors, and hospitality
Inventory forecasting and replenishment for licensed merchandise
Transportation planning for teams, officials, and fans moving between cities and across borders

And that's just FIFA's operation. Layer in sponsors, retailers, food and beverage suppliers, broadcasters, and local organizers, and the scale becomes even more impressive.

It's a good reminder that the world's biggest events aren't just won on the field. They're supported by thousands of logistics professionals making sure the right people, products, and equipment arrive in the right place at the right time.

Learn more:

The Supply Chains Behind the World Cup →

Follow the Investments

Slotted Admin — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Follow the Investments

Retailers keep investing in automation while freight risk works its way back into operating costs.

The Fourth of July usually marks the unofficial halfway point of the year for a lot of operators.

Peak planning starts becoming real. Budget conversations shift from what happened in the first half of the year to what needs to happen before Q4. Technology projects get evaluated. Carrier conversations pick up. Capacity planning starts getting more attention.

It's also a good time to look at what the larger operators are doing. Not because every investment applies providers across the market, but because their priorities tend to signal where the industry is heading.

This week's stories are a good example. Automation, network investments, and operational resilience continue showing up across the board.

WHAT’S TRENDING

Retailers continue investing in automation

Target, Burlington, H-E-B, and Kroger have all announced major distribution investments over the past few weeks, ranging from temperature-controlled facilities to highly automated fulfillment centers.

📦️ Target opened a $367M, 529,000-square-foot food distribution center in Colorado.

📦️ Burlington opened its largest facility to date, a 2 million-square-foot automated DC in Georgia.

📦️ H-E-B and Kroger are both expanding automated capacity as part of broader network investments.

For most providers, the takeaway isn't the size of the investment. It's where the investment is going. Automation, throughput, and faster replenishment continue to move higher on the priority list.

Supply Chain Dive → | The Loadstar →

Freight risk is showing up on earnings calls again

Fresh Del Monte expects a $40 million hit this quarter, driven largely by higher ocean freight costs tied to Middle East disruptions. Burlington, Macy's, and American Eagle have all pointed to similar freight pressure in recent earnings discussions.

At the same time, an Iranian drone strike on a tanker near the Strait of Hormuz is adding another layer of uncertainty to global shipping markets.

If your customers rely on imports, this is probably a good time to revisit landed-cost assumptions and fuel or surcharge language before those conversations become reactive.

A couple of smaller signals worth watching

📦️ The World Shipping Council reported 1,478 containers lost at sea in 2025, more than double the prior year.

📦️ New Jersey approved another large warehouse despite broader efforts to slow industrial development, reinforcing how difficult new capacity is becoming in parts of the Northeast.

Neither story will dominate the headlines, but both point to the same reality: capacity, whether on the water or on land, is becoming more valuable.

DC Velocity → | InsiderNJ →

PARTNER HIGHLIGHT

Scale your operation with ShipBob's Powered By:

One of the harder balancing acts for growing fulfillment providers is scaling the customer experience without losing operational control.

ShipBob's Powered By solution is built to fit that gap. It lets 3PLs continue operating their own facilities while using ShipBob's proprietary WMS, white-labeled merchant tools, and logistics infrastructure behind the scenes.

For providers, the appeal is clear:

Retain brand identity (the merchant-facing dashboard is white-labeled with your logo, not ShipBob's)
Give customers real-time visibility into stock levels, order tracking, and billing
Cut outbound and on-floor labor costs through ShipBob's sortation and last-mile logistics network
Standardize warehouse workflows with scanning, batching, and automated replenishment alerts built in
Onboard new brands faster with an intuitive platform that new hires can learn in a day
Access enterprise-grade infrastructure without the build cost or maintenance overhead

A good example is Eco Fulfillment: a California-based 3PL that implemented ShipBob WMS to power its own fulfillment operations. After rollout, they reported:

2x year-over-year revenue growth
30% improvement in pick and pack efficiency
Increased order accuracy from 99.2% to 99.99996%
Capacity to scale toward 500K monthly orders during peak

A lot of providers are trying to figure out how to modernize without rebuilding their operation from scratch. This is one of the more practical approaches I’ve seen for teams operating in that middle ground between boutique flexibility and enterprise expectations. This is especially true for operators who value a streamlined partnership instead of managing an ecosystem of vendor partners.

Check out the case study with Eco Fulfillment to Learn More

Learn More

OPPORTUNITIES IN FULFILLMENT

Carrier Sales Representative @ Crane WW | Texas

Territory Sales Representative @ Patterson | North Carolina

Sales Manager @ Geodis | Tennessee

Regional Sales Manager @ RR Donnelley | Illinois

Retail Dive → | Supply Chain Dive →

Following the Signals

Slotted Admin — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Following the Signals

UPS prioritizes margin. Walmart doubles down on automation. Lands' End learns how painful a WMS cutover can be.

One of the advantages large operators have is scale. One of the advantages everyone else has is being able to watch what works and what doesn't before making the same investment themselves.

Over the last few weeks we've seen several examples of that.

UPS continues walking away from lower-margin volume in favor of higher-value business. Walmart is pushing deeper into automation across its network. Lands' End spent the quarter dealing with the fallout of a warehouse system implementation that disrupted shipments and revenue.

Different companies. Different challenges. Similar lesson.

The biggest operators in the industry are constantly showing where they're placing bets, where they're finding friction, and where they're getting burned.

For mid-market and SMB fulfillment providers, those are useful signals. You may not have Walmart's budget or UPS's network, but the reasons behind the decisions are often just as relevant to your operation as they are to theirs.

WHAT’S TRENDING

Industry leaders continue prioritizing margin over volume

📦️ UPS is investing $48M into temperature-controlled facilities as it continues reducing Amazon volume under its "better not bigger" strategy.

📦️ The company sees healthcare logistics as a major growth opportunity and is actively reshaping its network around higher-margin freight.

For providers, it's another reminder that volume alone doesn't solve problems. The largest operators in the industry continue focusing on network fit, profitability, and long-term economics.

FreightWaves → | UPS →

Big players keep investing in automation

Walmart is now more than halfway through retrofitting its regional distribution network with automation. Kimberly-Clark recently announced a $200M automated facility as part of its long-term productivity plan.

The conversation around automation has shifted. A few years ago it was innovation teams and pilot programs. Today it's network design, labor strategy, and capital planning.

For most providers, the question isn't whether automation belongs in the operation. It's where it creates enough value to justify the investment.

Burlington Automation → | Nestle → | Walmart

Technology rollouts still carry real operational risk

Lands' End reported a 10% decline in ecommerce revenue after a Manhattan WMS implementation created a week-long backlog across its distribution network.

Management expects some of the volume to recover, but it is another reminder that implementation plans matter just as much as software selection.

Every operator wants the benefits of a modern tech stack. Few want to live through the cutover.

Final-mile economics continue to evolve

📦️ Teamsters are challenging UPS over its use of Roadie for certain deliveries.

📦️ FedEx raised international fuel-related costs through surcharge changes that effectively increase export shipping costs.

📦️ Carriers continue looking for ways to balance service expectations, labor costs, and profitability.

For brands and providers, the last mile remains one of the most dynamic parts of the supply chain.

FreightWaves → | Supply Chain Dive →

PARTNER HIGHLIGHT

Highlight: 2026 IWLA Fulfillment Forum

When & Where: Aug. 6 & 7 | Schaumburg, Illinois

The Vibe: A working room of warehouse and fulfillment operators, not a vendor expo floor.

ROI Hook: Benchmark your labor, automation, and pricing decisions against peers before you commit capital to them.

Who to Send: Your head of operations or GM, plus whoever owns operational strategy.

OPPORTUNITIES IN FULFILLMENT

Sr Customer Account Manager @ Kenco | Tennessee

Territory Sales Manager @ DHL | New Jersey

Sales Development Representative @ GXO | Remote

Director Of Operations @ Geodis | California

Regional Sales Manager @ RR Donnelley | New York

FreightWaves → | Amazon / BusinessWire →

Is Amazon becoming your next competitor or your next carrier?

Slotted Admin — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Is Amazon becoming your next competitor or your next carrier?

Why Amazon opened its LTL network, what Kimberly-Clark's $200M DC tells us, and two July deadlines for cross-border ops.

Following the announcement that Amazon would open its fulfillment network to non-marketplace sellers, the company has now opened its LTL network to any business as well. Given Amazon's history of launching services in pursuit of an end-to-end solution, neither announcement was particularly surprising.

Most of the coverage has focused on the impact to fulfillment providers and transportation companies. There may be some impact there, but I think the more interesting story is why Amazon is doing it.

The easy answer is the AWS playbook: commercialize infrastructure they originally built for themselves. That is part of it. But during my time working for Amazon and with Amazon, one thing was always clear: a decision could be good for everyone, as long as it was very good for Amazon.

Amazon has spent years investing in logistics infrastructure. Ecommerce is still growing, but we are well past the COVID-era surge. Consumers have settled into a mix of online and in-store shopping, which leaves capacity to fill.

To me, this looks like a straightforward effort to drive more volume through buildings that already exist and trucks that are already moving. The secondary benefit is data: buying behavior, inventory flows, geographic demand patterns, and points of commerce.

WHAT’S TRENDING

Amazon opens more of its logistics network

Amazon opened both its LTL network and broader fulfillment infrastructure to businesses that don't sell on Amazon.

📦️ The LTL offering supports shipments from 1-6 pallets with GPS tracking, dock scheduling, and electronic proof of delivery built in.

📦️ The broader fulfillment announcement follows a similar path. Infrastructure Amazon originally built for itself is now being sold as a service.

For most 3PLs, this doesn't change the competitive landscape overnight. What it does do is continue a trend we've been watching for years. Amazon wants to become a larger part of the logistics stack, whether the shipment ultimately touches Amazon.com or not.

Warehouse automation keeps moving from pilot project to capital plan

Kimberly-Clark announced a $200M automated distribution center in South Carolina as part of a broader productivity initiative.

The company expects benefits beginning in 2027, but what stood out was how automation was discussed. Not as innovation. Not as experimentation. As part of a long-term operational and financial plan.

That feels increasingly common. The question for many operators is no longer whether automation belongs in the network. It's where and when it makes sense.

Global News → | Logistics Management →

The final-mile network continues to shift

📦️ Canada Post is moving another 485,000 addresses to community mailboxes after reporting a $1.57B pre-tax loss in 2025 and a 17% decline in Q1 parcel revenue.

📦️ DHL eCommerce signed a multi-year agreement making USPS its exclusive final-mile provider in the United States while retaining control of pickup, sortation, and linehaul.

Different stories, similar pressure. Every carrier is looking for a path to profitability while still meeting customer expectations around speed and coverage.

Cross-border operators have two July deadlines to watch

On July 1, the EU eliminates its €150 duty-free threshold for low-value imports.

Later in the month, the current Section 122 surcharge framework is scheduled to expire while replacement tariff structures continue working their way through the system.

Neither change is likely to dominate headlines, but both have the potential to impact landed-cost calculations, DDP programs, and cross-border fulfillment strategies.

DCL Logistics → | Logistics Management →

PARTNER HIGHLIGHT

Partner Highlight: IWLA and 3PL Warehousing Week

This week’s highlight goes to IWLA and their upcoming 3PL Warehousing Week initiative.

The goal is simple: bring more visibility to the warehousing and fulfillment industry and the role third-party logistics providers play in keeping supply chains moving.

For providers, it’s a chance to showcase the operational side of the business that customers and consumers rarely see. The people, processes, technology, and problem-solving that sit behind every order shipped and every pallet stored.

What I like about the initiative is that it focuses on the operators.

Not the headlines. Not the buzzwords. The actual businesses running warehouses, supporting brands, managing inventory, solving exceptions, and adapting every day to changing market conditions.

If you're a provider, it's worth participating.

If you're a brand, it's worth spending a few minutes understanding just how much happens behind the scenes to make modern commerce work.

Learn More

OPPORTUNITIES IN FULFILLMENT

Multimodal Sales Executive @ Hub Group | Illinois

VP Of Finance @ Bergen Logistics | New Jersey

Director, M&A Operations @ Stord | Remote

Director Of Operations @ Allen Distribution | California

Regional Sales Manager @ RR Donnelley | New York

Wall Street Journal → PepsiCo Driverless | Supply Chain Dive → Drone Delivery | Supply Chain Dive → 30-minute Delivery

What Actually Wins Enterprise Business?

Slotted Admin — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0000

What Actually Wins Enterprise Business?

Everyone talks about technology, pricing, integrations, and visibility.

The more experienced the buyer, the less those things tend to differentiate providers.

Instead, conversations start focusing on:

Leadership quality (check this video on the topic from TNW and The Brecham Group)
Team stability
Facility standards
Ways of working
Partnership alignment

The operators leading these evaluations understand the cost of poor execution and provider transitions. They're not looking for the cheapest option. They're looking for the provider most likely to deliver consistent results over the long term.

One mistake I see providers make is using revenue or order volume as a proxy for buyer sophistication.

Sell to the buyer, not their bank account.

A pre-revenue brand led by an experienced operator will often evaluate these factors from day one. Meanwhile, a much larger brand led by a founder or team with limited operations experience may not yet recognize their importance.

WHAT’S TRENDING

Autonomous last-mile is moving beyond the pilot phase

📦️ PepsiCo is now running 35 fully driverless Gatik trucks across Texas, Arizona, and Arkansas with no safety driver and a reported 99% on-time rate.

📦️ Walmart and Wing expanded drone delivery into 7 additional metro areas and recently passed 1 million commercial deliveries. More than 40% of those deliveries happened in the last quarter alone.

📦️ Amazon continues pushing 30-minute delivery into additional markets through its same-day network. Different models, same direction. The pilot phase is ending and commercial deployment is starting to scale.

USPS dimensional pricing changes arrive July 12

📦️ USPS is moving closer to FedEx and UPS dimensional pricing methodologies, increasing effective rates on lighter, bulkier shipments.

📦️ Unlike a carrier contract negotiation, this change simply arrives on July 12. Brands shipping apparel, beauty products, and other lightweight categories should already be updating cost models and customer pricing assumptions.

Supply Chain Dive → USPS Dim Pricing Change

The automation question isn't robotics - It's Operational Readiness

MODEX generated plenty of discussion around robotics and automation providers. Ocado, Cimcorp, K.Hartwall, and Nucor's warehouse steel systems were among the technologies drawing attention.

The more interesting question is whether an operation is actually ready for automation.

📦️ Poor inventory accuracy, inconsistent slotting, weak cycle count processes, and poorly maintained WMS data create problems that robotics rarely solve.

📦️ For brands evaluating providers, questions around inventory accuracy and process discipline will tell you more than a robotics tour ever will.

The New Warehouse → Tech to Drive Operational Excellence

PARTNER HIGHLIGHT

Partner Highlight: Arvist

Every warehouse has blind spots. Most don't find out where they are until a claim comes in, a fine gets issued, or a customer calls.

That's the problem Arvist is built to solve.

The company's vision AI platform plugs into a facility's existing cameras and automates inspection across two core solutions: quality control throughout the warehouse and safety & compliance on the floor. Use cases span load verification, retail compliance, and inbound shipment — all running on existing infrastructure without disrupting workflows.

A few things that stand out operationally:

Works with cameras already in place — no rip and replace
Integrates with 80+ WMS and ERP platforms out of the box
Flags damage, label errors, compliance gaps, and OS&D discrepancies automatically, with visual evidence attached
Typical ROI of 1–2 months

Customers have reported measurable results across the board:

35% fewer damage claims
50% faster shipments
66% reduction in worker compensation claims

For fulfillment centers looking to catch problems before they become claims, it's one of the more practical approaches to automated inspection out there.

Learn More

OPPORTUNITIES IN FULFILLMENT

Warehouse Sales Manager @ Logistics Plus | Illinois

Enterprise Account Executive @ Flexport | Georgia

Sr Sales Manager @ Odyssey Logistics | Remote

Director of Enterprise Sales @ Legacy Supply Chain | Remote

FedEx Newsroom → | GuruFocus →

What do ShipStation Global and FedEx Freight have in common?

Slotted Admin — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0000

What do ShipStation Global and FedEx Freight have in common?

One merged. One split. Both are responding to the same customer demand.

WWEX and Auctane combined to create ShipStation Global. FedEx Freight became its own publicly traded company.

One is consolidation and the other is a spin-off, but both are responses to the same reality: customers want clarity around who owns the outcome and fewer moving pieces between them and the work getting done.

We're seeing it more often. Brands want fewer technology vendors, fewer service providers, and fewer relationships to manage. The caveat is that they're not looking for the fewest vendors possible. They're looking for the fewest relationships required to hit their cost, service, and growth objectives.

That's why it's becoming harder to sell "we do everything." Although it reduces the vendor number for a buyer, it often means lower quality service and more exceptions. The businesses getting traction tend to be very clear about what they do, who they do it for, and where they create value.

That doesn't put smaller providers at a disadvantage. In many cases, it creates an opportunity. If you're specialized or exceptionally strong in a particular part of the value chain, that's increasingly valuable. The challenge is making it easy to plug into the broader ecosystem of providers, technology, and partners your customers already rely on.

WHAT’S TRENDING

WWEX and Auctane create ShipStation Global

📦️ WWEX and Auctane merged on June 1, combining freight brokerage, parcel shipping, and logistics software into a single platform serving SMB and mid-market shippers.

📦️ The combined network includes 75+ LTL carriers, 45,000 truckload carriers, and Auctane brands like ShipStation, Stamps.com, Metapack, and Packlink.

📦️ For 3PLs, carrier access continues to become table stakes. Service, flexibility, and expertise become more important as platforms consolidate capabilities.

FreightWaves →

FedEx Freight begins operating independently

📦️ FedEx Freight officially separated from FedEx and now trades as FDXF, becoming a standalone public company focused entirely on North American LTL.

📦️ As the largest LTL carrier by revenue, future pricing, capacity, and investment decisions will now be driven by the economics of the LTL business itself.

📦️ Shippers with meaningful LTL volume may want to keep a close eye on contract renewals and network changes over the next few quarters.

Canada Post reaches a new labor agreement

📦️ Canada Post workers approved a new five-year contract covering roughly 55,000 employees, ending nearly three years of labor uncertainty.

📦️ The agreement includes a 6.5% wage increase in year one and introduces weekend parcel delivery as Canada Post looks to remain competitive with private carriers.

📦️ Stability is back, but operators with Canadian volume should expect labor costs to work their way into future rate increases.

Supply Chain Dive → | CBC News →

PARTNER HIGHLIGHT

Solution Provider Highlight: Stock

Stock is the logistics infrastructure for inventory donation.

Stock changes that.

For warehouse and fulfillment providers, Stock creates value in several ways:

Quickly remove abandoned or aging inventory from warehouse space
Offer brands a responsible alternative to liquidation or disposal
Improve client retention by adding a high-value operational service
Help customers recover value through potential tax advantages and reduced storage costs
Create a differentiated service offering without adding internal operational burden

Several enterprise fulfillment providers who also leverage Slotted are already using Stock to support their customers with excess inventory management at scale.

Learn more about Stock and inventory donation solutions by emailing Abby Nawrocki directly at abby@stockitbetter.com

OPPORTUNITIES IN FULFILLMENT

Director of Sales @ NFI Industries | Illinois

VP, Customer Solutions @ Barrett | Massachusetts

Vice President, Technology @ Penske | Ohio

Senior Sales Manager @ Odyssey Logistics | Remote

NRF / Sourcing Journal → | Dedola Logistics →

Are smaller teams becoming a competitive advantage?

Slotted Admin — Thu, 28 May 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Early-stage and scaling brands are getting comfortable operating with smaller internal teams, AI-supported workflows, and more agentic ways of working. Fewer people doing more work with better systems behind them.

The small and mid-market 3PLs leaning into the same style of work are separating themselves from more traditional operators. Faster implementations. Faster analysis. Better visibility. Less dependence on adding headcount every time complexity increases. Whether right or wrong, this translates to comfortability and a feeling of operational alignment for a brand.

I think the same thing is going to happen on the technology side.

The providers building for SMB and boutique 3PLs, while embracing these workflows themselves, are going to keep taking share from slower and more traditional software companies.

Small and Midmarket 3PLs are moving AI into live warehouse operations

📦 At ShipHero’s Insider Summit, operators were discussing AI connected directly into live WMS environments rather than basic document search and chatbot workflows.

📦 One tangible example demonstrated using Claude against live WMS data to evaluate workforce performance and identify temp labor worth converting to full-time employees.

📦 API accessibility and data structure are becoming just as important as the interface itself. Tech forward brands who move with agility and value AI workflows will prioritize providers who also embrace this way of working.

The New Warehouse →

Import volumes rebound while de minimis changes hit DTC brands

📦 U.S. port imports are projected up 9.3% year over year in May, the first meaningful rebound after multiple softer quarters.

📦 At the same time, the de minimis exemption for Chinese imports has ended. Sub-$800 shipments now face tariffs that materially change the economics for many DTC brands.

📦 More brands are shifting away from ultra-lean inventory models and asking 3PLs about multi-location inventory positioning and faster intake capacity.

Stord raises $250M as the race around fulfillment infrastructure accelerates

📦 Stord announced a $250M Series F at a $3B valuation after significant growth across both fulfillment and software revenue. The company now processes more than $15B in GMV annually.

📦 Alongside the raise, Stord launched Stord Labs, focused on testing AI and robotics models against live production fulfillment operations before broader deployment.

📦 The positioning is becoming clearer across the market. More providers are trying to give independent brands enterprise-level fulfillment infrastructure without forcing them fully into Amazon’s ecosystem.

PR Newswire →

Partner Spotlight: International Bridge

Shipping to non-continental and APO addresses can be challenging and expensive. But customers in these locations are a large opportunity for most e-commerce brands. Especially as traditional parcel and small package providers are material changing their rate structures for lightweight shipment.

International Bridge, Inc. delivers cost-effective, reliable shipping solutions to Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico—offering air service at ground rates.

Their service helps shippers improve consistency, reduce costs compared to traditional carriers, and tap into the overlooked e-commerce potential of these non-continental domestic markets, including Alaska’s $2.1 billion spend.

Interested in learning more? Reply to this email to get connected with the team at International Bridge and see the full conversation here.

Opportunities in Fulfillment

Sales Developlement Executive @ RR Donnelley | Maryland

Customer Account Manager @ Midwest Refrigerated | Wisconsin

Freight Broker @ ODW Logstics | Ohio

Mid Market Account Executive @ Shipbob | Remote

Memorial Day and Q4 Prep

Slotted Admin — Thu, 21 May 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Memorial Day weekend is here. For many brands, this is usually the start of a slower stretch before Q4 planning really picks up.

This year, there are a few things happening that could catch teams off guard if they are not paying attention now.

The Supreme Court ruling around broker liability is likely going to tighten truckload capacity as brokers and shippers become more selective about the carriers they use. Fewer low-cost operators staying in rotation usually means higher costs somewhere else in the network.

USPS is also changing DIM pricing and lightweight parcel pricing in July. For brands shipping lightweight products, especially apparel and beauty, the math is going to change pretty materially.

Enjoy the holiday weekend, but remember... Supply Chain and Operations wait on no one!

USPS parcel pricing resets on July 12

📦 USPS is moving to more aggressive dimensional pricing, rounding all package dimensions up and lowering the DIM divisor from 166 to 139 across major parcel services. (Supply Chain Dive)

📦 Lightweight parcels are also getting more expensive. A 4-ounce shipment will now bill closer to the 12–15 ounce range, shrinking USPS’s historical pricing advantage on lightweight DTC shipments.

📦 UPS, FedEx, and DHL are also raising surcharges. Transportation budgets built on Q1 assumptions likely need to be revisited before June closes. (Supply Chain Dive)

The 30-minute delivery race is reshaping retail real estate

📦 Amazon Now and Sam’s Club continue expanding rapid-delivery networks, pushing faster fulfillment deeper into metro markets. (Supply Chain Dive)

📦 Walmart is converting former Rite Aid and Walgreens locations into small delivery depots built specifically for Spark drivers, dramatically reducing pick times versus traditional store fulfillment. (Financial Times)

📦 Vacant retail boxes are quickly becoming last-mile infrastructure because they are faster and cheaper to deploy than new construction.

The Supreme Court changes freight broker liability

📦 A unanimous Supreme Court ruling opened freight brokers to state-court negligence lawsuits tied to unsafe carrier selection, removing a key legal shield brokers had relied on. (Trucking Dive)

📦 FMCSA SAFER checks and carrier documentation now carry much more weight operationally and legally.

📦 3PLs managing brokered freight or transportation programs should be reviewing carrier qualification processes immediately. The same exposure applies to shippers booking carriers directly.

The Fulfillment Fit Equation: Why Your Best Clients Stay (And Your Worst Ones Leave)

The Fulfillment Fit Equation is simple: Fit = Capabilities × Cost × Communication × Trust

Here's what matters: this is multiplicative, not additive. If any variable goes to zero, the entire relationship breaks. You can have world-class capabilities and competitive pricing, but if communication breaks down or trust erodes, the brand will leave.

Capabilities means you support what their business actually requires. Are you set up for their order profile, SKU count, and channel mix? If capabilities are structurally misaligned, the relationship cannot be repaired through better communication, no amount of account management fixes a fundamental operations mismatch.
Cost isn't about being the cheapest. It's about whether your business model and their pricing model are fundamentally compatible. The brands that work long-term understand your cost structure and see the value exchange clearly.
Communication and Trust are where most relationships actually fail. If either side dreads interacting with the other, the partnership has likely run its course. Regular updates, invoice accuracy, and responsiveness aren't nice-to-haves, they're relationship multipliers.

Most breakups are misfit, not a failed KPI on day one. The brands who churn fastest are usually the ones you shouldn't have taken on in the first place. Slotted makes fit visible early, so you can engage with brands who match how you operate, how you price, and how you communicate.

See how the equation plays out in your own client relationships.

Opportunities in Fulfillment

Warehouse Sales Manager @ Logistics Plus | Illinois

VP Operations @ Geodis | Illinois

Sales Executive @ NFI Industries | California

District Sales Manager @ Patterson | California

Director of Operations @ Cart | Ohio

Senior Manager, Cross-border Transportation @ Shipbob | Remote

Supply Chain Dive — Section 122 ruling: | Supply Chain Dive — CAPE refund portal performance

Conference Season Round 2 and ICPs

Slotted Admin — Thu, 14 May 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Subsummit is this week with Home Delivery World right behind it next week.

If you’re a provider, the audiences at those two events are very different. Different levels of operational maturity, different expectations, different definitions of what “good” looks like.

We’ve had brands asking us for checklists on what to look for and what questions to ask providers at these conferences. It got me thinking about the provider side of the equation.

Are providers approaching these events differently too? Are they tailoring the message, positioning, and solutions around the specific shippers they’re talking to?

Tight ICPs always win.

But tight ICPs does not mean a single-track focus. It means targeting the right people, at the right stage, with the right solution.

Tariff refunds start flowing while legal uncertainty continues

📦 CBP began processing the first wave of IEEPA tariff refunds on May 11 against an estimated $133B pool across roughly 330,000 importers. Ford, GM, and Stellantis are all expecting major recoveries.

📦 At the same time, the US Court of International Trade struck down Trump’s 10% Section 122 replacement tariff. The administration appealed immediately, and collection is expected to continue during the appeal process.

📦 Refund opportunities, protests, and new tariff actions are all happening at once, making landed cost planning increasingly difficult for importers.

New DCs are being designed around automation from day one

📦 Ulta announced a new AutoStore-powered Salt Lake City DC aimed at reducing delivery times across the Northwest and Mountain regions. Smurfit Westrock detailed a heavily automated corrugated facility in Wisconsin designed to run with materially lower labor dependency.

📦 P&G also expanded rollout of Supply Chain 3.0, targeting $1.5B in savings by 2030 through foundational automation and process improvements.

📦 The shift is clear. Automation is increasingly being built into the network upfront instead of layered on later.

Supply Chain Dive — P&G Supply Chain 3.0 rollout | Smurfit Westrock Automation | Ulta Deploys AutoStore at New Facility

Transportation costs continue climbing across modes

📦 P&G reported a $150M hit tied to Iran-war supply disruptions and warned that elevated oil prices could create a much larger annual impact if conditions persist.

📦 UPS added a temporary per-pound international surge fee, FedEx raised export fuel surcharges again, and DHL eCommerce announced new domestic fuel surcharge increases effective May 30.

📦 Air cargo rates climbed 30% year over year in April as capacity tightened and ocean disruption spilled into other modes.

Supply Chain Dive — P&G Iran-war impact | Supply Chain Dive — UPS/FedEx surcharge increases

Scale you operation with Powered By

One of the harder balancing acts for growing fulfillment providers is scaling the customer experience without losing operational control.

For providers, the appeal is clear:

Retain brand identity (the merchant-facing dashboard is white-labeled with your logo, not ShipBob's)
Give customers real-time visibility into stock levels, order tracking, and billing
Cut outbound and on-floor labor costs through ShipBob's sortation and last-mile logistics network
Standardize warehouse workflows with scanning, batching, and automated replenishment alerts built in
Onboard new brands faster with an intuitive platform that new hires can learn in a day
Access enterprise-grade infrastructure without the build cost or maintenance overhead

A good example is Eco Fulfillment: a California-based 3PL that implemented ShipBob WMS to power its own fulfillment operations. After rollout, they reported:

2x year-over-year revenue growth
30% improvement in pick and pack efficiency
Increased order accuracy from 99.2% to 99.99996%
Capacity to scale toward 500K monthly orders during peak

Check out the case study with Eco Fulfillment to Learn More.

Opportunities in Fulfillment

Director Of Sales Development @ Rippling | New York

Head Of Sales Strategy @ DHL | Florida

Chief Financial Officer @ Allen Distribution | Pennsylvania

Vice President, Fulfillment Center Operations @ Spreetail | Texas

Director, Key Account Management @ DP World | North Carolina

Director Of Revenue Enablement @ Shipbob | Remote

Amazon Opens Logistics Network to All Businesses → Supply Chain Dive | Introducing Amazon Supply Chain Services → Amazon

Amazon Opens the Network

Slotted Admin — Thu, 07 May 2026 16:00:00 +0000

LinkedIn has been full of takes on Amazon Supply Chain Services this week. A lot of people are calling it the operations version of AWS.

Having worked at Amazon in operations and having spent time evaluating and using these services as a shipper outside of the enterprise tier, my view is a bit different.

For the brands they highlighted, 3M, Lands’ End, American Eagle, this makes a lot of sense. But for most ecommerce and multi-channel sellers, it’s not that simple. Unlike AWS, the Amazon Operations network is built on rigorous processes and continuous flow. Exceptions are a 4 letter word. So if your operational muscles, expertise, adn processes aren't buttoned up tight like the big brands, you're likely in for a lot of frustration and headaches.

That's why there is real opportunity here for mid-market fulfillment providers.

If you build the right battle cards, tighten your operations, and align with strong middle mile and final mile partners, you can compete effectively to win and maintain clients in the middle and upper market who value flexibility, partnership and real humans who answer the call when something goes awry.

You rate card will not win on paper vs. Amazon's rates. But rate cards do not capture the cost to brands of operating inside Amazon’s network when their processes are not fully aligned.

Amazon opens its logistics network to everyone

📦 Amazon launched Supply Chain Services, giving any business access to its freight, storage, fulfillment, and delivery network, even if they don’t sell on Amazon. This is not a small test. It’s a full stack offering backed by a network that already moves over 13 billion items a year.

📦 For brands running FBA alongside a 3PL, this is now a real consolidation decision. For 3PLs, this is Amazon stepping directly into the multi-channel value prop that many providers have built their business around.

2026 eComFuel Trends Report

Despite more operators on the platform than ever, Amazon is just another channel for true brands with meaningful revenue. And Spoiler Alert: Owning your own warehouse is a drag on margin.

📦 The 2026 eComFuel Trends Report, drawn from 300 ecommerce operators representing $3.5B in revenue, shows Amazon's share of community revenue has fallen to 20.1%, back to 2017 levels.

📦 DTC-primary operators grew revenue 65% faster than Amazon-primary peers, with gross margins at 52.7% versus 41.9% on Amazon. The 3PL-plus-FBA combination posted the highest margins and fastest net-income growth in the study.

📦 Brands operating their own warehouses grow far revenues far slower than those who lease space or outsource fully to a 3PL. Despite net margins being high, net margins are at a record low of 10.6% driven by overhead and operational complexity associated with owning your own facility and operations.

2026 eComFuel Trends Report

Carrier reshuffling continues and costs keep stacking

📦 UPS is near completion of its plan to halve daily Amazon volume, having cut 500,000 average daily packages in Q1. Amazon's ASCS launch the same week creates a clean bookend: UPS exits the Amazon parcel relationship as Amazon builds a replacement outbound network for every other shipper.

📦 Surcharges now account for roughly one-third of average package cost. UPS added a $0.23/lb fee on international shipments; FedEx is running parallel demand surcharges at $0.50–$0.70/lb on top of elevated fuel charges. The all-in rate environment has moved materially since Q1 for anyone shipping cross-border.

UPS' Amazon Volume Cuts Are Nearly Done. What's Next? → Supply Chain Dive | UPS Adds Temporary Surge Fee on US Imports and Exports → Supply Chain Dive

Highlight: New Industry Report from Octup

More channels. More operational complexity. More customer expectations. More demand for visibility from brands that want answers faster than ever.

Octup recently released a new industry report focused on what Brands are expecting from their 3PL fulfillment providers in 2026 and beyond. Spoiler alert: It's true partners who communicate at their level.

What makes the report valuable for 3PLs and warehouse operators is that it goes beyond automation headlines and surface-level trends. It digs into the operational realities teams are navigating every day.

A few areas worth paying attention to:

Why operational visibility is becoming a competitive advantage for fulfillment providers
How brands are evaluating fulfillment partners differently as margins tighten
The growing importance of inventory accuracy, forecasting, and exception management as networks become more complex

If you're unfamiliar with Octup, their software helps operators and ecommerce teams improve visibility across inventory, fulfillment, and supply chain workflows. The focus is helping teams identify issues faster, operate more proactively, prevent margin leakage, and make better decisions with cleaner operational data.

If you’re a fulfillment provider trying to understand where customer expectations and operational strategy are heading, this report based on conversations with actual operators is worth checking out.

Read the Report

Opportunities in Fulfillment

Director, Operations @ Geodis | Virginia

Vice President, Global Sales @ Mallory Group | North Carolina and Georgia

Head Of Customer Experience @ Stord | Georgia

Director Of Operations @ Jay Group | Texas

Vice President of Customer Success @ CEVA Logistics | Texas

Senior Director, Fulfillment Operations @ Shipbob| Remote

Home Depot acquires Simpl Automation (Supply Chain Dive) | Walmart opens in-store warehousing to marketplace sellers (Supply Chain Dive)

Beauty and Wellness Leaders Night

Join us for an evening of networking and a panel discussion about what it looks like to build towards an exit in 2026 in the Wellness space.

Tuesday, May 19 | New York City

RSVP

Stop wasting time on the wrong deals

Slotted Admin — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 16:00:00 +0000

In operations and logistics, "quiet" is a relative term, and the market has felt quieter heading out of Q1 and into the summer.

One thing that's stood out in conversations the past few weeks is how much less I'm hearing about filling the funnel and how much more I'm hearing from people looking for ways to refer more effectively and keep poor-fit leads out before they hit it. A welcomed transition for me as I've struggled to understand the chase for anything and everything.

Retailers are pulling fulfillment capability deeper in-house

📦 Home Depot acquired warehouse automation company Simpl Automation, which builds ASRS systems for goods-to-person workflows and vertical lift modules for high-density storage. The deal followed a pilot at Home Depot's Locust Grove, Georgia DC that produced faster pick speeds and fewer product touches.

📦 Walmart is opening its in-store warehousing capacity to marketplace sellers, turning its store footprint into fulfillment infrastructure for third-party inventory. The move pushes Walmart further into FBA-style territory and monetizes back-of-store space its NextGen automation rollouts are freeing up.

Visibility and traceability are becoming the operational differentiator

📦 UPS is rolling out RFID across its US network in a $100M deployment that has already cut misloads by 70% and eliminated 20 million manual scans per day. Ingram Micro shifted volume from FedEx to UPS specifically to access the new visibility layer.

📦 Gap is deploying Inspectorio's Paramo AI platform across its global supplier network to automate quality, compliance, and lab-test workflows. The platform digitizes inspection processes from factory floor to corrective action and surfaces supplier KPI trends and regulatory risk for buyers.

UPS RFID rollout (WSJ) | Gap taps Inspectorio for traceability (Supply Chain Dive)

Trade enforcement and ocean landside capacity are the next pressure points

📦 A new report flags enforcement gaps around goods rerouted through Mexico to dodge US tariffs, with the pace of tariff escalation outrunning customs enforcement capacity. Importers running cross-border flows should expect tighter scrutiny on country-of-origin documentation.

📦 Landside infrastructure, including terminals and drayage capacity, is being flagged as container shipping's next chokepoint. Even as ocean carriers add vessel capacity, shoreside throughput is becoming the binding constraint on end-to-end transit times.

Tariff escalation and Mexico rerouting enforcement gaps (JOC) | Landside infrastructure as container shipping's next chokepoint (JOC)

Highlight: Qualify Faster, Spend Time Where It Matters

Every opportunity is different. But your internal sales process doesn't change.

Different data. Different levels of detail. Different definitions of “actuals.” Different expectations. You end up adapting to every inbound, and in most cases, you’re doing it without enough information to know if it’s even worth the time.

Slotted’s Sales OS is built to bring structure to the early stages of the sales cycle. Not to change how you sell, but to help you decide faster where to spend time and where not to. Ensuring your teams from BDRs to Engineering are focused on high impact work.

Where teams are seeing impact:

Faster qualification
Evaluate fit against your ICP quickly with more complete data at the first touchpoint
Better use of team resources
Reduce time spent by pricing and solutions teams on deals that are unlikely to close
Clearer view of opportunity quality
Understand order volume, unit profiles, and growth potential early in the process

Boutique operators like The Fulfillment House, with a single person sales organization, are using it to speed up qualification and reduce time spent on early-stage conversations.

“Slotted’s lead software has made it incredibly easy for us to quickly evaluate whether a prospect fits our ideal customer profile. We instantly get clear insights into projected daily orders, average units, and overall growth potential. It helps us identify which opportunities are not the right fit and brings speed and clarity to our sales process.”
— Kurt Hamilton, The Fulfillment House

Larger providers like Red Stag and Kase are using it to filter out opportunities earlier based on data and keep pricing teams focused on the right opportunities.

At the end of the day, it’s about focus.

Qualify faster. Understand fit earlier. Spend time on the clients that actually belong in your pipeline.

If you haven’t seen it yet, learn more about Sales OS here: https://slotted.com/providers/sales-os

Opportunities in Fulfillment

Freight Brokerage Carrier Sales Representative @ Ryder | Texas

Global Key Account Manager @ Ceva Logistics | Texas

Field Sales Executive @ Ceva Logistics | Georgia

Vice President, Terminal Operations @ DP World | North Carolina

Warehouse Operations Director @ GXO | Ohio

Hormuz Costs → Freightos | Panama Canal Risk → JOC

The evaluation gap that's costing 3PLs good deals

Slotted Admin — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 16:00:00 +0000

I've been hearing the same thing from a few providers I respect. They're all well-known, good at what they do, and serve different ICPs. But they're all concerned about losing deals they shouldn't be losing.

The quality of preparation and general knowledge around RFPs and 3PL evaluation by scaling and midmarket brands is better than I can remember. But experience is still the best teacher. And unless the brand's main point of contact has strong knowledge of warehouse and parcel operations, and their corresponding economics, the brand can't compare bids apples to apples. They struggles to translate vague rate cards into true total cost to serve looking at storage, receiving, pick/pack, and stopping there. Everything else gets missed. Including the value of the transparency in the more "complex" (read: complete) rate card.

We feel strongly that we've solved for this in Slotted. Especially for providers using our Sales OS functionality. But regardless, I can't get this challenge out of my head. I'd love to hear from more providers who are experiencing this issue of losing deals to perceived cheaper operations. Email me at joe@slotted.com if you're open to talking through it and sharing your experience (or frustrations!).

Freight costs stacking across every mode

📦 The Hormuz blockade is in its sixth week. Diesel nationally is above $5.60 per gallon. Transpacific ocean rates are up roughly 40% since before the conflict began, with Asia-US West Coast rates now above $2,400 per FEU.

📦 Global airfreight tonnage fell 4% in March while rates climbed 12%. Capacity constraints and war-related fuel costs are pushing air rates up even as demand softens, making it an unreliable option for routing around ocean disruption.

📦 Forecasters are flagging potential El Niño-driven water level drops at the Panama Canal later this year. A disruption there while Hormuz remains blocked would leave two of the most critical global shipping lanes impaired at the same time.

UPS and FedEx are both mid-reorganization

📦 UPS is closing 20+ facilities and cutting 30,000 jobs as it shifts away from commodity e-commerce volume toward SMB, B2B, and healthcare. Simultaneously, the carrier is deploying $100M in RFID across its network, with early deployments showing a 70% reduction in misloads and the elimination of 20 million manual scans per day.

📦 FedEx Freight is spinning off as a separately traded public company on June 1, capping a restructuring program that closed over 475 stations. The FedEx CFO is also departing on that date.

📦 Both networks are changing their economics at the same time. Pricing and service commitments set even a few months ago are worth verifying before Q2 planning is finalized.

UPS RFID Expansion → Supply Chain Dive | UPS Louisville Closure → Courier Journal | FedEx One Rate Hike → Supply Chain Dive | FedEx Freight Spin-Off → Logistics Management

Tariff operations are active

📦 The CBP CAPE portal went live April 20 to begin processing an estimated $127 billion in tariff refunds. Importers registered for electronic payment should expect a 60-90 day window before funds arrive.

📦 Back-end verification from CBP is expected to be rigorous. Documentation accuracy and HTS classification on submissions will affect both approval rates and processing timeline.

📦 Brands are restructuring sourcing flows and DC locations in response to ongoing tariff exposure. Packaging supply chains are absorbing simultaneous pressure from tariffs and war-driven fuel cost increases.

CBP CAPE Portal → Supply Chain Dive | Packaging Supply Chains → Supply Chain Dive

Solution Provider Highlight: Dash.fi

There are not many levers in fulfillment that create margin without changing how you operate.

One of them is spend.

Between shipping, packaging, software, and carrier payments, both 3PLs and brands are running significant monthly card volume. Dash.fi is built around that reality.

They offer a corporate card and spend platform designed to put dollars back into the business while tightening up how that spend is managed.

Where it tends to show up:

Direct margin lift on existing spend
Cash back on categories like shipping and ads adds up quickly. A 3PL running $2M annually through a card is looking at ~$40K+ back without changing anything operationally.
Working capital and float
For 3PLs, it helps bridge timing gaps between carrier invoices and client payments. For brands, it allows inventory to be purchased and sold before the bill is due. That flexibility matters, especially during growth or peak periods.
Spend visibility and control
High limits, virtual cards, and category-level controls make it easier to manage distributed spend across teams and vendors.
Built-in auditing across key cost centers
Tools to reconcile ad spend, review carrier invoices, and flag discrepancies help recover dollars that would otherwise be missed.

It’s a fit for teams with meaningful monthly spend, especially those running paid media, shipping volume, or juggling multiple cards and systems today.

For operators looking to improve margin and cash flow without adding operational complexity, this is a straightforward place to look. Check out how Dash.FI can support your operations or reach out to James.Heflin@dash.fi or Mike.Shine@dash.fi to learn more.

Opportunities in Fulfillment

Account Manager @ RR Donnelley | West Virginia

Territory Salesperson @ Patteron Companies | Indiana

President & Head Of Growth @ Bergen Logistics | Remote

Global VP Operations And Systems @ DP World | Remote

Director Of Billing & Revenue Operation @ Stord | Remote

Freightos Index | JOC Forecast

MODEX takeaways + CBP refunds open Monday

Slotted Admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:00:00 +0000

MODEX wrapped in Atlanta today. I was only there for a day this year, but a few things stood out pretty quickly.

Optionality is everywhere. Especially in the ASRS space. There are more viable solutions than ever, which is great, but it also makes the decision harder. The question becomes less about what exists and more about what actually fits your operation.

For providers running multi-client facilities, the conversation kept coming back to terms. It’s tough to commit to long-term, rigid agreements with technology partners when your own customers are pushing for more flexibility in how they engage with you.

And while robotics are still the headline, the more important question is where you are in your automation journey.

Process standardization comes first. Then automation. Then optimization.

Trying to jump straight to optimization through robotics tends to create more problems than it solves. That’s where ROI starts to fall apart before the system is even fully live.

Freight costs are stacking across every mode

📦 Six weeks into the Strait of Hormuz disruption, cost pressure has worked its way into every mode. Ocean rates are up roughly 40% since before the conflict, and fuel constraints are starting to show up in bunker supply.

📦 Diesel is now above $5.60 per gallon nationally, putting most Q1 cost assumptions out of date. Airfreight is no longer a reliable pressure release with rates rising even as volume declines.

📦 Looking ahead, potential Panama Canal constraints later this year add another layer of risk on top of an already tight global network.

UPS and FedEx are both mid-reset

📦 UPS is closing facilities, reducing headcount, and shifting away from lower-margin ecommerce volume. At the same time, they are investing heavily in visibility and network efficiency.

📦 FedEx Freight is spinning off as a separate company while broader network changes continue. Pricing adjustments are already coming through, including increases on One Rate.

📦 For shippers and 3PLs, both major carriers are changing their networks at the same time. Service levels and pricing assumptions are not as stable as they were even a few months ago.

UPS Reset | FedEx One Rate

Tariff operations are shifting in real time

📦 The CBP refund portal goes live April 20, opening access to a large pool of tariff refunds. Many importers are already registered, but documentation and classification accuracy will matter on the back end.

📦 At the same time, brands are actively restructuring sourcing and distribution strategies in response to ongoing tariff pressure and rising input costs.

📦 Refund opportunities and new cost exposure are happening in parallel, which makes planning more complex than a typical tariff cycle.

Tariff Refunds | Adapting Supply Chains

Resource to Know About: Your Shipping Partners (YSP)

Shipping costs are one of the fastest ways fulfillment providers can improve margins, especially on USPS-heavy volume.

Your Shipping Partners (YSP) helps 3PLs and brands access enterprise-level carrier rate cards without changing how the warehouse operates. The model is straightforward. Connect your WMS to YSP’s rate card and continue shipping as usual. Labels print the same way, pick and pack does not change, and teams do not need retraining.

Where providers typically see the biggest impact:

Stronger USPS pricing for lightweight DTC shipments
Enterprise carrier rate access across USPS, FedEx, DHL, and Amazon that smaller operators typically cannot secure on their own
Quick integration through API, plugin, or WMS connection, often completed within 24–48 hours
10–25% shipping cost reductions compared to standard merchant pricing
The typical approach is simple. Start with a portion of USPS volume or one brand, validate service and economics for a week, and scale if the savings are there.
For providers managing high DTC parcel volume, especially under 20 lbs, programs like this can create meaningful margin improvement without adding operational complexity.

Ready to improve your margins? Meet with the YSP Team

Opportunities in Fulfillment

Manager Of Sales @ Ryder | Massachusetts

Regional Sales Manager @ RR Donnelley | Indiana

Director Of Enterprise Sales @ Legacy Supply Chain Services | Remote

Global VP Operations And Systems @ DP World | Remote

Head Of HR, Fulfillment Operations @ Stord | Remote

USPS Surcharge → WSJ | Amazon FBA Fee → WSJ

The Bill Comes Due

Slotted Admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 16:00:00 +0000

It's been six weeks of freight market disruption. The impacts are affecting multiple stages of the supply chain but ecommerce fulfillment providers are feeling it acutely as fuel surcharges rolled in to offset the rising price of fuel.

The ceasefire between the US and Iran came through on April 8, just before Trump's strike deadline expired. As a result, oil dropped 13% in a day but surcharges don't dissolve with a press release.

Even if the deal holds, the effects will not resolve quickly as carriers will leave surcharges intact to offset uncertainty and jet fuel supplies will likely take months to recover. Most operators will know this, but it's worth talking to customers to help protect margins on both sides of the conversation.

Carriers are repricing at the same time

📦 USPS is adding an 8% fuel surcharge starting April 26. Amazon is adding a 3.5% FBA fuel fee starting April 17. UPS and FedEx are already running 25–28% fuel surcharges.

📦 For 3PLs running multi-carrier strategies, the impact compounds quickly. Cost models built earlier this year likely need to be rebuilt and pass-through structures rechecked.

Retailers continue to consolidate and automate

📦 Walmart is closing legacy facilities and shifting volume into automated hubs as part of a long-term move toward a fully automated network. Ulta is expanding ship-from-store without adding new DCs.

📦 The direction is clear: Higher density and more automation to drive lower cost per unit. For 3PLs, this is the benchmark your clients will begin measuring against operationally and financially.

Walmart Closures → Sourcing Journal | Ulta Ship-From-Store → Supply Chain Dive

Tariff refunds expand while new costs come in

📦 The pool of eligible tariff refunds has expanded to include fully liquidated entries, with roughly $166B at stake and a portal expected to go live soon.

📦 At the same time, new tariffs on pharma and metals are taking effect.

Expanded Refund Scope → Supply Chain Dive | New Tariff Orders → Reuters

Parcel networks continue to reshuffle

📦 Amazon is now reducing USPS volume by 20% instead of two-thirds, keeping over a billion packages flowing through the postal network, largely due to rural delivery constraints.

📦 UPS is moving the other direction, reducing Amazon exposure and shifting toward higher-margin business.

Amazon-USPS Deal → WSJ | UPS-Teamsters Settlement → Reuters

Highlight: Warehouse Innovators Community

Coming out of both Manifest and IWLA, it's clear that there is no shortage of technology in the warehousing space right now. The question is not what exists but what actually makes sense for your operation today versus what might matter five years from now.

I sat in on Kevin Lawton’s session at IWLA where he walked through that exact problem. What’s real, what’s viable, and how operators should be thinking about adopting new technology without getting distracted.

He’s now taking that a step further with the launch of the Warehouse Innovators Community, a private community built specifically for operators. It is focused on warehouse innovation and technology, and intentionally removes vendor noise.

What it includes:

Private, curated insights on warehouse technology
Direct access to peer conversations with other operators
Community exclusive pricing on select solutions
Event perks like discounted tickets and meet-up opportunities
Members-only livestreams, demos, and virtual events
Initial sales pitches taken by Kevin on behalf of the group

If you're having difficulty navigating the technology landscape this resource can help you sort through the options and get feedback from others who have used the solutions you are considering.

You can apply here: Join the Warehouse Innovators Community

Opportunities in Fulfillment

Head of International Sales @ DHL | Florida

Southeastern Regional President @ Patteron Companies | North Carolina

Manager of Sales @ Ryder | Maryland

Director of Fulfillment Center Operations @ Spreetail | Texas

Site Director of Fulfillment Operations @ Cart | Ohio

VP, Enterprise Account Manager @ ITS Logistics | Remote

Why “Fit” Is Taking Over 3PL Conversations

Slotted Admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Two weeks ago we hosted a webinar with friends from Third Person, Shipware, and Red Stag. The core message around FIT being a product, not a sum, seemed to land. The Italian restaurant comparison did too. If you missed it, the recording is worth a watch.

That carried into IWLA this past weekend where the topic of fit and the sales process in warehousing and fulfillment was central to many of the conversations we had.

It was my first time attending their flagship convention and I was impressed by the breadth and depth of operators in the room. Operations is a business of exception management and risk reduction. The ingenuity and adaptability across the warehousing and fulfillment industry is hard to miss.

📦 Kenvue's "Shark Tank": A Playbook for Ops Innovation

Kenvue COO Meri Stevens shared at Manifest 2026 how the company runs monthly employee pitch sessions to drive operations innovation, deliberately built to avoid "pilot purgatory."

Winners get funded and deployed globally, with a focus on touchless processes and AI agents that free up staff.
Predictive maintenance tech has cut equipment downtime and reduced spare parts inventory across factory lines.
The model: test fast, kill fast, scale what works. Transferable to any 3PL or fulfillment operator chasing incremental gains.
Read more →

📦 FedEx Goes Same-Day — And the Last-Mile Race Has a New Entrant

FedEx launched FedEx SameDay Local in partnership with OneRail, offering 2-hour and end-of-day delivery from nearby stores and distribution centers.

The service connects to a network of 1,000+ delivery providers and uses AI for order matching, routing, and proof of delivery. It's live with select large retailers and is expanding.
Retailers are becoming delivery nodes, and the infrastructure to support Same-Day is becoming more accessible.
FedEx SameDay Local → WSJ | Amazon's 1-Hour Rollout → CNBC

📦 Warehousing demand expands beyond ecommerce

DHL is adding over 7 million square feet across North America to support data center and AI infrastructure builds, with other providers moving in the same direction.
This is not traditional ecommerce demand, but it will impact space availability and pricing.
DHL's Expansion → WSJ

Highlight: Slotted’s New Website Is Live

We launched the new Slotted website this week.

The biggest change is clarity. Clearer messaging, better explanation of who we are, and how we actually support both providers and brands.

The main takeaway: Slotted is not lead generation and matchmaking.

That’s something we’ve been saying for a while, and many customers already understood it. Now the site reflects it.

Slotted is built to help customers find the right fit.

What that looks like:

For Providers

A Sales OS built for 3PLs. Qualify your leads faster, understand their fit at a glance, and focus on closing the clients that actually belong with you. Regardless of how they entered the pipeline.

For Brands

A structured way to run a cleaner RFP, compare providers on what actually matters, and choose a partner that fits your business. No more consultative overhead and no more messy spreadsheets or needing an advance mathematics degree to figure out cost.

If you haven’t seen it yet, take a look: www.slotted.com

Opportunities in Fulfillment

Sales Manager @ Shipmonk | Remote

Head of Revenue Operations @ Stord | Remote

Director Sales, National Institutions @ Flexport | Minnesota

Account Executive @ RR Donnelley | Illinois

Site Director of Fulfillment Operations @ Cart | Texas

Tariff Refunds → | Supply Chain Agility →

March Madness

Slotted Admin — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 16:00:00 +0000

It’s March. That means March Madness.

On the surface, it’s a spectacle. On the court, it’s chaos. Off the court, it’s a masterclass in logistics. Condensed timelines, unknown participants, cross-country travel. Everything moving at once, with no room for error.

Feels familiar.

Last year’s Final Four host city, San Antonio, is where we’ll be this weekend for the IWLA Convention. Next weekend, the tournament heads to Indianapolis, another warehousing hotbed, and I’ll be there as well.

If you’ll be in either place and we’re not already planning to connect, you’ll know where to find me!

📦 Warehouse Real Estate: Consolidation & Big Boxes Return

Saks is closing two Pennsylvania DCs and cutting 600 jobs, a real-world example of a broader market shift: companies are exiting smaller, outdated facilities and consolidating into larger, modern distribution centers, with 3PLs leading the charge.

Saks consolidates Two PA distribution centers shuttered as part of a fulfillment cost optimization - displaced volume that could represent opportunity for regional 3PLs.
Big-box leasing is back as demand for warehouses 500K+ sq ft surged 32% YoY in 2025 per Cushman & Wakefield, with 3PLs and manufacturers driving nearly two-thirds of activity. Vacancy rates for large warehouses dropped 140 bps year-over-year.
Inland, lower-cost markets are winning - 71% of large leases signed in markets priced below the national average, as occupiers prioritize total cost over port proximity.

Saks → | Big-Box Trend →

📦 Tariffs in Transition: Refunds Coming, But Stay Ready

The Supreme Court struck down IEEPA tariffs last month. CBP is now building the refund system, but companies aren't letting up on supply chain resilience planning.

CBP's new CAPE system will return ~$166B to importers via a 4-step portal. Launch expected mid-April, components 40-80% complete.
48% of CEOs are actively deploying tariff mitigation strategies; 41% using AI for trade compliance (KPMG survey).
Customers are reshuffling sourcing and inventory positioning. Opportunity for 3PLs offering flexible warehousing and distribution.

Shipping costs are one of the fastest ways fulfillment providers can improve margins, especially on USPS-heavy volume.

Where providers typically see the biggest impact:

Stronger USPS pricing for lightweight DTC shipments
Enterprise carrier rate access across USPS, FedEx, DHL, and Amazon that smaller operators typically cannot secure on their own
Quick integration through API, plugin, or WMS connection, often completed within 24–48 hours
10–25% shipping cost reductions compared to standard merchant pricing

The typical approach is simple. Start with a portion of USPS volume or one brand, validate service and economics for a week, and scale if the savings are there.

For providers managing high DTC parcel volume, especially under 20 lbs, programs like this can create meaningful margin improvement without adding operational complexity.

Schedule time with the YSP Team to learn more.

Talk with James

Opportunities in Fulfillment

Enterprise Sales Representative @ Taylor Logistics Inc | Ohio

Sales Executive @ NFI Industries | New Jersey

Senior Account Executive @ Flexport | New York

Director Customer Logistics @ Ryder | Maryland

Inside Sales @ DP World | Florida