The market for third-party logistics (3PLs) in the United States grew 7.4% in 2014, to $157.2 billion, according to supply chain research and consulting firm Armstrong & Associates Inc. In fact, two market segments saw double-digit growth:
• Non-asset-based domestic transportation management gross revenues were up 15.4%, with net revenues doing even better at 20.5%.
• Dedicated contract carriage gross and net revenues were both up by 10.4% over the previous year.
As Armstrong & Associates explains, the 3PL market as a whole is now dominated by about 50 companies based in post-industrial countries. "These 3PLs have scale based on geographical coverage, IT and processes that create threshold levels which bar smaller rivals from overtaking them by organic growth alone."
This slideshow looks at the 15 largest U.S.-based 3PLs ranked by 2014 logistics gross revenue (either company reported or Armstrong & Associates estimates).
