20 observations from 25 years of research on third-party logistics.

The article highlights the most important observations on the third-party logistics market based on the data generated in the third-party logistic (3PL) user and 3PL chief executive officer (CEO) studies conducted over the past 25 years. The observations discussed include the specific events, such mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganizations and changes in leaderships, that triggered the initial use of 3PL services and the source of the mandate in considering the use of 3PL services.