How to Write a 3PL RFP (2026 Template & Checklist)

First decide whether you actually need an RFP

A formal RFP is a real project. Someone on your team will spend weeks assembling data, writing questions, fielding clarifications, scoring responses and running site visits. That effort is worth it when the decision is complex, expensive and hard to reverse. It is wasted when the scope is simple.

Run a full RFP when you have multi-node or multi-service requirements, meaningful volume, a mandatory integration to an ERP or marketplace, regulated cargo such as hazmat or FDA-touched goods, or a board that requires a documented competitive process. Run a shorter RFQ when the scope is well-defined and you mostly need pricing on a known service, for example pallet-in/pallet-out storage or recurring drayage lanes. Just pick up the phone when you are testing feasibility, when volumes are small, or when you need to move in weeks rather than months.

One honest test: if you cannot describe what you want in a two-page scope document, an RFP will not fix that. Fix the scope first.

Build the data package before you write a single question

Most weak 3PL bids are the buyer’s fault. Providers price risk, and vague data is risk, so they pad. The single highest-return thing you can do is hand every bidder the same clean, structured dataset. At minimum, include:

• SKU master: SKU, description, case and each dimensions, case and each weight, cases per pallet, ti/hi, whether the item is stackable, hazmat class if applicable, temperature requirement, lot or serial control, shelf life.
• Order profile: 12 months of order headers and lines if you can share them. If not, provide distributions: orders per day, lines per order, units per line, and the split between parcel, LTL, FTL and local delivery.
• Seasonality curve: monthly or weekly volume for the past 12 to 24 months, plus your peak-day and peak-week figures. Peak is what sizes the labor plan.
• Inbound receipt profile: containers versus trailers versus parcel, floor-loaded versus palletized, units per receipt, ASN availability, and how much advance notice you can give.
• Storage profile: average and peak units on hand by storage type (pallet rack, bulk floor, shelving, bin, yard), plus dwell and turns.
• Returns: return rate, disposition rules, whether items are refurbished, repacked or scrapped, and who inspects.
• Value-added services: kitting, labeling, poly bagging, gift wrap, display building, serialization, retail compliance routing.
• Service levels: order cutoff times, ship-same-day expectations, receiving turnaround, inventory accuracy targets, how you will measure them and what happens if they are missed.
• Integration requirements: systems, connection method (EDI, API, flat file), documents required, who builds and who pays, and expected go-live timing.
• Insurance and compliance: required coverage types and limits, cargo liability terms, indemnity language, C-TPAT or bonded status if needed, food-grade or FDA registration, hazmat handling authority, audit rights.

If some of this data does not exist yet, say so openly and give your best estimate with a note. Bidders can price around an acknowledged unknown. They cannot price around a surprise.

Design the pricing sheet so bids are actually comparable

If you let each provider format its own pricing, you will get five documents you cannot compare, and you will end up choosing on gut feel. Lock the format. Provide a spreadsheet where the line items are fixed and only the rates are editable.

Fix the unit of measure on every line

Storage is where comparisons break most often. State whether you want pricing per pallet position per month, per square foot, per bin, per cubic foot, or per unit, and state how occupancy is measured and billed. Do the same for receiving: per container, per pallet, per carton, or per labor hour. Ambiguity here can swing an apparent winner into an actual loser.

Separate first line from additional lines

Ask for pick fees broken into first line, each additional line, and each additional unit within a line, plus a separate order or transaction fee. This is the only way to model your real order mix rather than an average that hides the truth.

Force out the rest of the cost stack

• Packing materials: by carton size, dunnage, tape, labels, and whether they are pass-through at cost or marked up.
• Account management and IT: onboarding, integration build, ongoing support, custom reporting.
• Minimums: monthly minimum spend, minimum storage commitment, minimum order charge.
• Accessorials: rework, relabeling, special projects, after-hours, pallet purchase, disposal, cycle-count support, detention, container unloading for floor-loaded freight.
• Escalation: how and when rates change, notice period, and what index or trigger applies.

Then require every bidder to price the same modeled month using your volumes so you can compare a single all-in number alongside the rate card. For background on how these charges typically stack up, our breakdown of 3PL warehouse pricing, storage and handling fees is a useful companion while you build the sheet.

Score with weights you set before you read the responses

Publish the weighting internally before the first response arrives. Otherwise the criteria drift toward whoever wrote the nicest proposal. A workable structure weights cost meaningfully but not decisively, alongside operational fit, technology and visibility, location and transportation network, financial stability and references, compliance and risk posture, and implementation plan quality. Score each independently, on a defined scale, with written justification, and only look at the totals afterward.

Visit the sites and ask the uncomfortable questions

Never award on paper alone. Walk the building with the person who will actually run your account, and ask:

• Who works on my account day to day, and how many other accounts do they carry?
• Show me a live order flowing through the WMS, from receipt to label.
• What is your current occupancy, and where would my inventory physically go?
• What was your worst service failure this year and what changed afterward?
• How do you handle peak labor, and how much of it is temporary?
• Who pays for a mis-ship, and how is a claim documented and resolved?
• Can I see a redacted sample of the reporting I would receive?

Look at the housekeeping, the dock congestion, whether pallets are stacked safely, and whether staff can answer questions without a manager present.

Red flags in responses

• Rates that arrive far below the rest of the field with no explanation.
• Refusal to commit to a storage unit of measure or a written accessorial list.
• “Custom quote on request” scattered across the pricing sheet.
• No named implementation lead, or no implementation plan at all.
• Vague answers on integration ownership, timelines or cost.
• References that are all brand new or all in a completely different vertical.
• Service levels offered without any measurement definition.
• Unwillingness to let you tour during working hours.

A realistic timeline

Plan for months, not weeks. Data preparation and internal scoping usually take the longest and are the easiest to underestimate. Then allow time for issuing the RFP, a written Q&A window, response drafting, evaluation and scoring, site visits, shortlist follow-ups, commercial and legal negotiation, and finally implementation. Building the data package alone can consume several weeks. If you need to be live before a peak season, count backwards from peak and add buffer for contract redlines, which routinely take longer than anyone plans.

Plan the transition before you sign

Make the implementation plan a scored part of the RFP, not an afterthought. Require a named project lead, a milestone schedule, an integration test plan with sample data, a physical inventory transfer plan, a cutover date with a defined freeze window, a parallel-run or contingency approach, and clear exit terms covering notice, data return and de-installation. If you are moving away from an incumbent, our checklist for switching 3PL providers covers the sequencing that keeps orders flowing during the changeover.

The RFP checklist

• Written scope and business case; RFP versus RFQ decision made
• SKU master with dimensions, weights and handling attributes
• Order profile: orders/day, lines/order, units/line, ship-method mix
• 24-month seasonality with peak day and peak week
• Inbound receipt profile and ASN capability
• Storage profile by type, average and peak
• Returns rate and disposition rules
• Value-added service definitions
• Service levels with measurement definitions
• Integration requirements and document list
• Insurance limits, cargo liability, compliance and certification requirements
• Locked pricing template with fixed units of measure
• Modeled-month all-in cost required from every bidder
• Scoring weights agreed internally before responses open
• Q&A window with answers shared to all bidders
• Site visit scheduled with prepared questions
• Reference calls in a comparable vertical
• Implementation plan and exit terms scored
• Legal review window built into the timeline

The South Florida angle

If your inventory arrives through PortMiami or Port Everglades, add port-specific questions to the RFP. Ask about drayage capability and whether it is asset-based or brokered, chassis access, container free-time management, devanning capacity for floor-loaded containers, bonded and CFS handling, and yard space for staged equipment. A Miami-area provider that can pull the container, devan it and rack the product under one roof removes a handoff and a claims boundary. Go Freight operates 100,000 square feet in the Miami/Medley area with bonded, CFS and temperature-controlled space, plus in-house drayage and the Go TruckHub TMS for visibility. You can see the full range on our services overview.

Frequently asked questions

How many 3PLs should I invite to an RFP?

Enough to get genuine competition without drowning your team in evaluation work. A shortlist of three to five providers that you have already pre-qualified by phone usually produces better responses than a wide blast, because serious providers invest more effort when they believe they have a real chance.

Should I include my target price in the RFP?

Generally no. Sharing a target tends to anchor every bid to that number and hides the cost differences you are trying to discover. It is more useful to share a budget range only if you need to screen out providers that are structurally out of scope, and even then say it is indicative rather than fixed.

What if my data is incomplete?

Share what you have, label the estimates as estimates, and state your assumptions in writing. Providers can price around a documented unknown by adding a review clause or a rate revisit after a defined trial period. Discovering the gap after go-live is far more expensive than admitting it during the RFP.

Sending an RFP to South Florida providers this quarter? Call (786) 449-4020 or email rates@gofreighthub.io and we will respond on your pricing template, line for line.