Its about Third Party Logistics (TPL or 3pl) .

2. Third-party logistics (abbreviated as 3PL,
or TPL) in logistics and supply chain
management is an organization's use
of third-party businesses to outsource
elements of its distribution, warehousing,
and fulfillment services.

3.  Third-party logistics companies provide any number
of services having to do with the logistics of the
supply chain. This includes transportation,
warehousing, picking and packing, inventory
forecasting, order fulfillment, packaging and freight
forwarding.

4. Third-party logistics (3PL) is a common practice for supply
chain management in which a company outsources
logistics functions to another company. The functions that
are outsourced vary from company to company, but usually
include one or more of the following:
 Inbound freight
 Customs and freight consolidation
 Warehousing
 Order fulfillment
 Distribution
 Management of freight to customers

5.  Resource Network.
 Save Time & Money.
 Ongoing industry expertise.
 Scalability and Flexibility.
 Continuous Optimization.

6.  Loss of control.
 IT.
 Reverse Logistics.

7. Here is an example of how 3PL arrangements operate:
A book publisher hires writers, editors and graphic
designers to produce publications, but it may not want
to handle the consumer ordering process or
transportation of book shipments. Instead, the book
publisher uses a fulfillment centre to process its online
orders and hires a trucking carrier to haul its freight.
The fulfillment center and carrier both act as 3PL
providers. It's possible for a single 3PL provider to
fulfill and ship book orders.

8.  The primary benefit of using a 3PL service to handle
logistics, such as packaging, warehousing, fulfillment and
distribution, is cost savings -- for example, not having to
maintain a warehouse or the staff to monitor supply chain
operations.
 A 3PL service likely offers better performance on efforts
such as shipping while also enjoying an easier ability to
scale its operations. If the publishing company in the
example above suddenly needs to ship more copies of a
popular title, a fulfillment center will have an easier time
meeting that demand than if the publisher itself had to
ship additional copies of the book.

9.  Inbound transportation.
 Outbound transportation.
 Fleet management.
 Warehousing.
 Materials handling.
 Order fulfillment.
 Inventory management.
 Demand planning.