Third-party logistics providers dominate the United States commercial warehousing market, according to research by Armstrong & Associates Inc. The analysis indicates that 3PLs increased their net revenues to $13 billion in fiscal year 2002.
Total square footage occupied by 3PL warehousing activities is 485 million square feet. Armstrong & Associates estimates the total US public/contract warehousing market at $19 billion with 650 million square feet of space. Commercial warehouse operations occupy about 10% of total US warehousing space. Total US warehousing costs are estimated to be $78 billion (FY 2001) by Robert Delaney of Cass Logistics.
Armstrong & Associates’ top 20 are all 3PLs. The largest is Exel, a company with home offices in Britain. Exel has 56.5 million square feet of warehousing space in North America. It is followed by APL Logistics, UPS Supply Chain Solutions, and Americold, which is the largest refrigerated and frozen warehousing firm.
“Profitability for U.S. warehousemen improved in FY 2002,” said Richard Armstrong, president of the consulting company. “Net profits improved from 0.7% to 1.8% of net revenue in 2002. We believe that 3PL pricing has stabilized in this segment, and margins should hold or improve this year.”
The complete report on US warehousing is in the 11th edition of Who’s Who In Logistics? Armstrong’s Guide to Global Supply Chain Management. For more information, phone 800-525-3915 or e-mail [email protected].
