Da Vinci, a cloud-based warehouse management system purpose-built for complex 3PLs, is highlighting key findings from Armstrong & Associates' June 2026 report, "Reshaping: Third-Party Logistics in a Decade of Structural Change," on warehousing growth, labor costs and RFP data, and what they mean for warehousing 3PLs heading into contract renewals. The report finds that U.S. value-added warehousing and distribution grew 4.4% to $72.7 billion in gross revenue in 2025, even as the freight recession weighed on transportation segments.

Warehousing is the largest 3PL segment by net revenue, according to Armstrong, and its growth was driven in part by tariff-related nearshoring and buffer-stock builds. The firm projects gross revenue of $75.2 billion in 2026.

The report also flags two pressures that meet at contract renewal. Warehouse wages have plateaued at elevated levels rather than falling, compressing margins on contracts priced under earlier cost assumptions. Armstrong advises shippers whose warehousing pricing was set during the post-pandemic peak to review those agreements and issue RFPs well ahead of renewal.

"Armstrong's data shows warehousing demand is holding, and the reasons behind it aren't going away," said Dan Cavanaugh, CEO of Da Vinci. "Where 3PLs will win or lose that business is at renewal. Wages have leveled off at a higher cost base, and customers are being advised to rebid any contract priced above today's market. The operators that can show the cost of each activity on their rate card, customer by customer, are the ones that can defend their pricing and still say yes to new business."

On RFPs, Armstrong's list of the top five warehousing outsourcing pitfalls, written for shippers, cautions against running a warehousing RFP without giving bidding 3PLs a good operating profile. That includes clean order data showing seasonality and shipping modes, a complete item master, shipping and receiving procedures, and expected performance KPIs such as order-to-shipping cycle times and inventory accuracy by location. The list also advises shippers to benchmark pricing against the market several months before renewal and to require apples-to-apples bids.

"An RFP looks completely different depending on which side of it you are on," Cavanaugh added. "Armstrong's guidance is written for the shipper running it. For the 3PL answering it, cycle times, inventory accuracy and cost by activity will be compared line by line against competitors. Those numbers need to come directly from the system running the floor, and they need to be ready before the RFP arrives. That starts with the WMS. Operators are investing in robotics and AI, but if the system underneath can't produce clean data, every tool added on top inherits the same problem."