Q1 TIA 3PL benchmarking report shows annual shipment and revenue gains

Annual gains for shipments and revenue were key parts of the data included in the First Quarter 2015: TIA Benchmarking Report issued this week by the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA).

This is the 26th edition of this report, which is based on monthly data from TIA member companies who submit real operating data and respond to questions on business conditions impacting the 3PL sector. Types of questions that the member companies’ answers include: number of shipments by mode, total billing, and gross margins. Other data collected are customer-based forecasts to offer up expectations of near-term business volume.

Total invoice revenue in the first quarter for all TIA member study participants—at around $2.72 billion—was up 7.3 percent compared to the first quarter of 2014, and total shipments—at 1,458,385 were up 7.1 percent annually, as TIA noted shipment gains were spurred by truckload gains up 11.3 percent at 1,061,414, as intermodal (at 240,130) and LTL (at 126,075) were down 2 and 4 percent, respectively. First quarter invoice amount per shipment—at $1,853—rose 0.2 percent annually, with truckload down 0.6 percent at $1,796, LTL up 1.6 percent at $401, and intermodal down 3.1 percent at $2,341.

And first quarter profit margin—at 15.2 percent—increased by 180 basis points, representing the largest quarterly increase going back to 2009. Truckload profit margin at 15.5 percent was up 190 basis points annually, and LTL at 18.5 percent was up 50 basis points, with intermodal up 100 basis points at 9.9 percent.

Fuel expenses in the first quarter dropped 26 percent annually, or a little more than $1.00 per gallon, which represents the largest decrease for any quarter in the report’s history.

TIA reported that, once again, truckload again remained the dominant mode in terms of 3PL revenue at 73 percent in the first quarter, with intermodal next at 16 percent, less-than-truckload (LTL) at 9 percent, and miscellaneous activity within warehousing, air and other services representing 2 percent of 2015 3PL revenue.

Looking at shipments, TIA found that truckload shipments in the first quarter rose 1.3 percent annually to 1,061,414, with LTL shipments down 4.0 percent at 126,075, and intermodal down 2.0 percent at 240,130.

In an interview with LM, TIA President and CEO Bob Voltmann said that the report’s data reflects how TIA and 3PLs overall continue to see good things, with his organization growing, as well as the marketplace.

“The economy continues to strengthen and with fuel prices down there has been a bit of a shrinkage on the intermodal side, with trucking gaining some more share there in some instances,” he said. “The lack of available capacity, due largely to the driver shortage, is going to continue and will keep rates up, which is good for everybody involved except for shippers.”

With truckload shipments pacing overall annual gains in the first quarter, coupled with the current still-tight capacity situation (but looser than it was a year ago at this time), it portends the ongoing proliferation of 3PLs being active on the brokerage side perhaps more than at any other period.

Voltmann said this reflects how there are more people selling the advantages of the brokerage space in the 3PL sector and a recognition that there is still capacity out there from very small trucking companies, with the best way to reach that capacity is through brokerage-based 3PLs.

“This is really the ‘golden age’ of logistics, because it is really easy for a shipper or a manufacturer to deal with a couple of really big, or key, motor carriers, rather than several smaller motor carriers and owner-operators, due to things like their investment in people, technology, and process that are economic and at a fixed cost. That is the main message you hear from publicly-traded companies at conferences from companies like Echo Global Logistics, C.H. Robinson, and XPO Logistics, among others. And it is the same message you hear from mid-size 3PLs and smaller ones, too.”