Short Term 3PL Storage – Why Sellers Need It
The supplychain behind an online business can invarialbly confront sellers with hold-ups. And when your products get held up, they need temporary warehouse storage. Let’s look at some of the situations where a seller might need short term 3PL storage.
Scenario 1 – LTL Shipping Delay: You’ve requested crossdocking services from a warehouse. And while your pallets got unloaded, the other trucking carrier never showed up for pick up. In fact, they’re delayed by a week. With pallets temporarily stranded, they need short term 3PL storage.
Scenario 2 – Amazon Listing Suspension: Your newest re-up on inventory just arrived to your third party prep center. You intended to get the cartons turned around as quickly as they were received. However, Amazon flagged your listing for some unforseen error. With parcels temporarily stranded, they need short term 3PL storage.
Scenario 3 – Customs Paperwork Delay: You mapped out a plan to launch products into a new marketplace – let’s say Canada. Your listing is ready. A team prepped your products. However, you forgot to complete the correct customs paperwork for the LTL pick up. Now you’ll need to wait a couple weeks to get it up to speed. With product temporarily in limbo, you need temporary 3PL storage.
You may or may not fall into one of the scenarios above. But regardless, you will encounter a situation where you need a quick solution to store products on short notice. So let’s look at what short term 3PL storage offers.
What is Temporary Warehouse Storage?
Short Term 3PL storage is a stop-gap solution that brick and mortor warehouses offer when sellers need help holding onto shipments. Every sellers wants their products on doorsteps and in homes, instead of warehouses. However, supplychain delays can put shipments into a holding pattern. That’s where a warehouse steps up to offer help.
Defining Short Term 3PL Storage
Temporary warehouse storage can be defined as a warehouse holding product as little as one day to up to 90 days. Typically, any inventory stored in excess of 90 days is considered long term storage. There’s not much in the way of mid-term storage between these definitions.
How Does Short Term 3PL Storage Work?
Short Term Storage services vary based on the 3PL provider. Warehouses use several variables when caculating short term storage rates. Let’s take a closer look at each:
- Carton Dimensions
- Pallet Dimensions
- Inventory Quantity
- Storage Time Requested
- Dates Product is Received and Released
Consider the following. A warehouse received 10 pallets, oversized at 7ft tall, midway through the month. The seller needs storage for two weeks. A warehouse could prorate the storage dates to accomdate that window of time. In addition, they should upcharge on normal storage costs due to the extra tall pallets. Therefore, a custom quote would apply to this short term 3PL storage request.
Alternatively, assume you are moving half a pallet of product. However you are struggling to get you product listing active. You’ll be requesting storage for the near future until that’s work out. Your products would most likely be registered at normal rates with that warehouse. In fact, you might pay for a full pallets storage regardless of your half pallet total.
What is the Cost of Short Term 3PL Storage?
Short Term Warehouse Storage prices vary based on provider. However, you should expect to see prices range between $20/pallet – $49/pallet. Different 3PL’s offer different rates at different points in their business model. For example, a warehouse may front load clients with software subscription costs, monthy minimums, while offering cheaper rates for their actual services. Other 3PL’s like Momentum Warehousing offer a middle ground of $29/pallet/month and no additional charges. Simple, clean short term 3PL storage.
We recommend looking for a warehouse provider that allows you to enter and leave their services at will. No contracts. No minimums. Just flat rates. This allows you the flexibility needed to make a move on shipping products once your bottleneck loosens up.
How to Shop for Short Term Warehouse Storage?
You as a seller should consider the following when shopping for temporary warehouse storage:
Warehouse Infrastructure
Does the facility have loading docks? A Fork Lift? Pallet Racks? Or will you need a lift gate to get goods off a truck? Will the staff be double stacking other pallets on your product? Make sure your 3PL partner has the neccesary warehouse infrastructure to effectively store and pull products on your behalf.
Turn Around Time on Requests
Once you get a green light to get goods moving – how long will it take a team to pull products from short term storage on short notice? Time is money, and you’ve already spent money storing goods. Make sure you find a team that can move quick when your time comes to ship. At Momentum Warehousing – we provide a 24 hour turn around time on any and all Small Parcel Delivery. Less-Than-Truckload shipments require 48 hours of prep time.
Warehouse Cost Structure
As alluded to before, short term 3PL storage prices vary. A good rule of thumb is to search for the following:
- No Subscription Fees.
- No Software Fees.
- No Startup Fees.
- No Minimums.
- No Contracts.
- Just Flat Rates.
Yes the warehouse rates might be a 20-30% more upfront, but that’s because your shedding the dead weight of back-end services on monthly invoices. And in this space – you get what you pay for. That is to say, cheaper services does not always provide better value. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Be leary of any warehouse that promises rock bottom storage rates.
Access to Account Managers
Along the lines of turn around request time – when you need products pulled from short term warehouse storage – you need someone to answer your request. Most larger warehouses offer an account manager to handle your requests. Some smaller warehouses offer a botique 3PL experience, where you’ll work directly with the owner. At Momentum Warehousing, clients work directly with the co-founders. In fact, they love the ‘owner-to-owner’ model of communication. It makes any seller feel invested in by a partner who cares and understand their needs.
Conclusion – Short Term 3PL Storage Summarized
First, make sure you are in good communication with your warehouse provider. This will help get ahead of any issues, delays, or set backs. Secondly, do not fall prey to predatory pricing structures. Lastly, due your due diligence and vet the location before sending product there. Ensure it is equipped with the infrastructure neccesary to move goods quickly, when your time comes to exit from temporary warehouse storage.
