If Pricing Is Your Only Strategy, You’ve Already Lost.

Written By Phillip Franks

Margins are thinner. Contracts are shorter. Procurement is louder.

But the biggest risk for 3PLs isn’t price pressure. It’s positioning failure.

In 2025, only 14% of shippers rank price as a top-three decision driver. Yet most 3PLs still lead with it and lose.

“We sold ourselves short. The customer was willing to pay for value. We just weren’t showing them any.”
— VP of Sales, $300M logistics firm.

What Shippers Actually Prioritize (Per PATH’s CX Benchmark):

  • Exception resolution speed

  • Visibility tools like customer-specific dashboards

  • Emissions data per load

  • Cost-to-serve modeling

  • Mode flexibility during disruptions

Top-performing 3PLs are flipping their QBRs. They are moving away from transit time and OTP to customer value metrics. And they are keeping margin while doing it.

If your positioning says “low-cost,” you’ll never be considered mission-critical.

The best 3PLs use PATH’s benchmark to align their positioning with what shippers are really buying. Want to see what they see?

Phillip Franks https://www.owlandkey.co
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