Alexandria, VA - Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) has released their Third Quarter 2016 TIA 3PL Benchmarking Report and the results show that participants’ total shipments decreased compared to Q2 2016 and gross profit margin percentage declined. Combined total shipments of truckload, intermodal, and LTL decreased 0.9 percent. Companies larger than $16M and less than $100M bolstered total shipments with their total shipments increasing 5.3 percent.  The report represents nearly 1.3 million shipments and over $2.1 billion in total revenue for Q3 2016:  Total Activity Summary
Metric Q316 Q216 % Change
Total Shipments 1,272,945 1,283,929 -0.9%
Total Revenue (000) $2,191,933 $2,121,391 3.3%
Invoice Amount per Shipment $1,722 $1,652 4.2%
Profit Margin % 15.8% 16.0% -20 Basis Points
The report contains rolling eight-quarter trends, fuel price comparisons, and allows 3PLs to see how the overall industry is performing as well as to compare their business to companies of a similar size. Author Mark Christos speaks on the value of the benchmarking report here. The publication is based on a monthly survey of TIA members who submit current operating data, and answer questions on business conditions affecting the 3PL industry. TIA’s efforts provide a comprehensive report on the trends and practices of the 3PL industry.