Apr 15, 2009 3:29 PM

The Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) has created a monthly survey that will gather real operating data from a carefully selected group of third-party logistics (3PL) member firms to yield actual information on the business conditions within this sector.

TIA’s efforts will make available a comprehensive report on the trends and practices of the 3PL industry, providing a representative understanding of what is happening within this business sector.

A copy of the first report can be found here.

Survey topics include the number of shipments by mode, total billing, and gross margins.

The participants will also provide forecasts, based on their customers, to provide expectations of the near-term volume of business, either positive or negative. The data will be blended to insure the anonymity the participants.

Dr Joe Hanna, chair and professor of Supply Chain Management at Auburn University, will analyze the data and create market reports that TIA will publish quarterly. Initially, the market reports will be exclusively available to participating TIA members.

TIA, the only organization exclusively representing transportation intermediaries of all disciplines doing business in domestic and international commerce, looks to publish this research data as subscription publication to non-participants.