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Logistics and Transportation · Third party logistics companies

HR for Third Party Logistics Companies: Warehouse Teams, Client Contracts and Service Levels

A third party logistics company runs warehousing and transport for other firms under service level agreements. Floor teams, shift managers and client leads must hit targets for several clients with one workforce.

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A fleet supervisor and HR coordinator reviewing a driver's records at a transport depot
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A third party logistics company, or 3PL, runs warehouses, transport and related services for client firms. One site may serve several clients, each with its own processes, systems and service levels. People include warehouse managers, shift managers, receiving and putaway staff, pickers and packers, inventory controllers, dispatch and transport coordinators, drivers, client account managers and a small support office. Work follows client contracts. A new client brings a start-up phase with hiring, training and tight timelines, and loss of a client leaves surplus staff. Floor staff are a mix of own and vendor workers. Service level penalties make errors costly, so supervisors push speed and accuracy together. Equipment such as forklifts and reach trucks brings safety risk. See also HR for logistics and transportation.

  1. Plan
  2. Hire
  3. Onboard
  4. Manage
  5. Develop
  6. Perform
  7. Engage
  8. Retain
  9. Exit
  10. Improve

When HR is weak in third party logistics companies, you may see

  • Client start-ups strain hiring
  • Staff serve many clients with different rules
  • Contract losses leave surplus staff
  • Supervisors face penalty pressure
  • Own and vendor staff are treated differently
  • Equipment accidents are a risk
  • Night and peak shifts wear people out
  • Client managers lack floor sense

These are the places the people side of this kind of business tends to give way. The rest of this page works through them.

Who does the work in third party logistics companies

HR here has to work for each of these groups, not only the office. The set-up below is written with all of them in mind.

  • Warehouse and shift managers
  • Receiving, putaway and inventory staff
  • Pickers and packers
  • Forklift and reach truck operators
  • Dispatch and transport coordinators
  • Drivers
  • Client account managers

Roles we help you hire in third party logistics companies

GullyHR runs talent acquisition for permanent roles in third party logistics companies. For each role we agree the job description with you, find and screen candidates against it, and support the offer through to joining. Tell us the role and the number of people, and we start there.

Job descriptions for this sector

Share a hiring requirementTalent acquisition services →Role design and job descriptions →

We recruit permanent employees. We do not supply contract or temporary staff.

We set up the interview and hiring process for third party logistics companies

Every business interviews, but few have a written process that works the same way for every role and every interviewer. GullyHR designs yours, from the role brief to the offer, trains your managers to run it, and can run it for you on the roles you hand us.

  1. 1. Role brief and scorecard

    We agree what the role must deliver, the must-have and nice-to-have skills, and how each will be scored.

  2. 2. Stages and sequence

    Screening call, assessment, interview rounds and decision points, sized to the role and the number of people you hire.

  3. 3. Question bank and scoring

    Structured questions for each role family and a rating guide, so two interviewers judge the same answer the same way.

  4. 4. Interviewer readiness

    A short briefing for your managers on what to ask, what to avoid and how to give a clear yes or no.

  5. 5. Offer and follow-up

    Who approves, how the offer is made, and how candidates are kept informed from first call to joining.

Set up our interview processRecruitment process consulting →Structured interviewing →Interviewer training →Recruitment software →

Where HR strains in third party logistics companies

  • Client start-ups strain hiring

    A new contract needs a trained team within weeks, and quality falls.

  • Staff serve many clients with different rules

    Workers switch between processes and make errors from confusion.

  • Contract losses leave surplus staff

    When a client leaves, people are idle or let go, and trust in the employer drops.

  • Supervisors face penalty pressure

    Service level fines flow down as blame to the floor.

  • Own and vendor staff are treated differently

    Different pay, rest and recognition cause friction on the same shift.

  • Equipment accidents are a risk

    Forklift and pallet movements need training and discipline that busy sites skip.

  • Night and peak shifts wear people out

    Peak weeks bring long hours, and transport home is poor.

  • Client managers lack floor sense

    Account managers promise changes without asking the shift team.

HR topics for third party logistics companies

Start with the topics that matter most here: Recruitment and Talent Acquisition; Onboarding and Probation; Health, Safety and Wellbeing. Then work through the rest. Each topic is written for logistics and transportation, not in general.

Recruitment and Talent Acquisition

Requisition to joining, the same way every time.

Onboarding and Probation

A first day that is the same for the fifth joiner as the first.

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

Induction, records, incident reporting and follow-through.

HR Strategy and Workforce Planning

How many people, in which roles, by when — and what they will cost.

Organisation Design

Structure, reporting lines and who is allowed to decide what.

Employee Administration

Records, attendance, leave and the day-to-day HR that must simply work.

Compensation, Payroll and Benefits

Salary structure, payroll inputs and a month that closes on time.

Performance Management

Goals, reviews and ratings that hold up in a conversation.

Learning and Development

Training planned from need rather than from the calendar.

Career and Succession Management

Named backups for the roles that cannot be vacant.

Employee Engagement and Experience

Communication, recognition and the conditions people actually work in.

Employee Relations

Two routes — one for complaints, one for conduct — kept separate.

Policies, Compliance and Governance

Policies a manager can apply, and obligations with owners and dates.

Retention and Attrition Management

Who leaves, when, why — and which of them mattered.

Exit and Alumni Management

Resignation to relieving letter, in a defined order.

HR Technology and Automation

Records that survive people, and approvals that do not queue.

HR Analytics and Management Reporting

A short monthly pack management actually reads.

HR Operations and Governance

An HR function that runs the same way every month.

What a working HR set-up looks like

The pieces a third party logistics companies business puts in place, in an order that makes each easier. Open any card for the detail.

Plan client start-up staffing

A hiring and training calendar with a trained core moved from existing sites.

What this covers

A hiring and training calendar with a trained core moved from existing sites. See recruitment process.

Write client process cards

One-page process rules per client at the work station, used for induction.

What this covers

One-page process rules per client at the work station, used for induction. See employee onboarding.

Plan redeployment

A skills list and a process for moving people when contracts change.

What this covers

A skills list and a process for moving people when contracts change.

Equalise floor treatment

Common rules on rest, safety and recognition for all staff on the shift.

What this covers

Common rules on rest, safety and recognition for all staff on the shift. See HR policy packages.

Run equipment competence checks

Authorised operator list, refresher practice and daily checks.

What this covers

Authorised operator list, refresher practice and daily checks. See workplace health, safety and wellbeing.

Include shift teams in client changes

Account managers consult shift leads before promising process changes.

What this covers

Account managers consult shift leads before promising process changes.

Start by checking where you stand

Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These checks take an afternoon and tell you which of the topics above to start with.

Share your requirements
  • List the last client start-up and how long it took to reach target.
  • Ask pickers how many clients' rules they follow in a shift.
  • Count staff idle or moved after a contract ended.
  • Compare own and vendor staff rules on your busiest shift.
  • List authorised equipment operators and their last refresher.
  • Ask shift managers how client changes reach them.
  • Confirm with a qualified professional the contract-labour, safety and employment rules that apply to your sites.

Confirm with a qualified professional. What applies to you depends on your business, your state and your arrangements, and it changes. This page describes practice. It does not state a legal position.

How GullyHR helps

The services below fit this kind of business best. Each starts by recording where you stand, and every later report compares against that. We do not promise outcomes.

Start with a free conversation, or see the paid HR Diagnostic.

Our HR transformation approach

  1. 1

    Assess

    Understand the business, its workforce, current processes and HR challenges.

  2. 2

    Identify gaps

    Find the missing, weak, inconsistent or person-dependent processes.

  3. 3

    Design

    Create the structure, processes, policies, SOPs, dashboards and systems needed.

  4. 4

    Implement

    Help HR and department managers actually adopt the new system.

  5. 5

    Automate

    Digitise repetitive and approval-based workflows where it is worth doing.

  6. 6

    Measure

    Track hiring, attendance, employee cost, performance, training and attrition.

  7. 7

    Improve

    Strengthen the people-management system continuously, not once.

Blogs worth reading first

From the GullyHR blog: one on HR in logistics and transportation, and one on each of the topics this page points to.

More on the GullyHR blog.

Questions owners ask

Move a trained core from existing sites, hire the rest early, induct with process cards and review weekly.

More on HR for logistics and transportation

All 51 business types in logistics and transportation · Find another business type

Last-mile delivery companiesForklift and material handling dealersStorage facilitiesAircraft sales and charter companiesPackers and moversCourier and delivery servicesRecruitment and Talent Acquisition in logistics and transportationOnboarding and Probation in logistics and transportationHealth, Safety and Wellbeing in logistics and transportation

See all HR topics for logistics and transportation, or another industry.

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