What 3PL does

3PL (legal name 3rd Party Logistics Ltd.) is a Felixstowe-based road haulage company founded in 2012 that specializes in container haulage for shipping lines, freight forwarders, importers, and exporters. It operates predominantly from the Port of Felixstowe, with additional coverage from London Gateway, Tilbury, and Southampton ports, and offers UK-wide and European routes. The company is privately held, registered in England & Wales (company number 8111640), with a headcount of 11-50 employees.

The company's core offering is a container haulage service supported by a specialist equipment fleet that includes reefer genset trailers, lightweight trailers for overweight loads, multifunction trailers, and a standard sliding skeletal trailer pool enabling drop-and-swap operations. Its technology stack centers on the TOPS suite of applications, which integrates GPS-based vehicle tracking, intelligent telematics monitoring driver behavior and load security, and a customer portal that provides real-time container tracking, automated booking, callover, delivery status updates, and invoicing. The platform integrates with customer systems, allowing direct exchange of booking and status data.

3PL generates revenue through transactional container haulage fees charged per move, with pricing provided on a quote basis rather than via published rates. It serves four primary customer segments — shipping lines, freight forwarders, importers, and exporters — through a direct B2B sales motion using phone, email, and the customer portal. Capacity is delivered via an owned fleet supplemented by a subcontractor partnership program operating across Felixstowe, London Gateway, and Tilbury, enabling 3PL to flex volume without proportional fixed-asset expansion.

Name

3PL

Legal name

3rd Party Logistics Ltd.

Website

https://3pl.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

3PL is a Felixstowe-based road haulage company founded in 2012 that provides container haulage services for shipping lines, freight forwarders, importers, and exporters, operating from Felixstowe, London Gateway, Tilbury, and Southampton ports with UK-wide and European coverage.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Container Haulage / Road Freight Logistics

NAICS

Freight Transportation Arrangement (488510), Support Activities for Transportation (488)

SIC

Trucking & Courier Services (No Air) (4210), Trucking (No Local) (4213)

akta.pro primary industry

Intermodal Drayage & Container Haulage (Asset-Based) (TLAIAMAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Specialized Equipment Transport (Flatbed, Step-Deck, Lowboy, Car Carrier) (TLAIAMAH)

Keywords

• Container haulage services
• Road freight transport
• Port drayage services
• Intermodal container logistics
• Shipping line transport

Headquarters

HQ city

Felixstowe

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Container Haulage Services: 3PL generates revenue through container haulage services for shipping lines, freight forwarders, importers and exporters. They serve UK and European routes, operating from Felixstowe, London Gateway, Tilbury, and Southampton ports. Revenue is derived from transportation fees per container/job.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

3PL provides first-class container haulage services throughout the UK and Europe, operating predominantly from the Port of Felixstowe with additional coverage from London Gateway, Tilbury, and Southampton ports. Services are delivered via a modern fleet of specialist equipment (reefer genset, lightweight, and multifunction trailers) with drop & swap capability, supported by GPS vehicle tracking, telematics, and a TOPS-integrated customer portal enabling automated bookings, real-time delivery status updates, and invoicing.

Product overview

3PL is a Felixstowe-based Road Haulage company operating as a 3rd Party Logistics provider. The core offering is a Container Haulage Service throughout the UK and Europe, supported by a suite of technology products including Vehicle Tracking, Telematics, Container Tracking Portal, and Customer Portal integrated via TOPS. The company operates specialist equipment including Reefer (Genset) Trailers, Lightweight Trailers, Multifunction Trailers, and offers Drop & Swap Capability. Services extend to subcontractor partnerships across major UK ports.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Container Haulage Service First-class container haulage service throughout the UK and Europe, operating predominantly from the Port of Felixstowe with coverage from London Gateway, Tilbury, Southampton, and across the UK. Includes specialist equipment (reefer genset, lightweight, multifunction trailers), drop & swap capability, GPS tracking, telematics, and TOPS-integrated booking and invoicing. Serves shipping lines, freight forwarders, importers and exporters.
• Subcontractor Haulier Partnership Programme

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature5 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• XPO Logistics: Global logistics provider with UK and European less-than-truckload, truckload and container-related freight services; competes with 3PL for freight forwarding and shipping line drayage relationships as part of a broader offering.
• Wincanton: Major UK contract logistics provider with container transport, warehousing and distribution capabilities serving retailers and shippers; comparable contract-haulage and 3PL services, scaled significantly larger than 3PL.
• DFDS: Large European logistics and ferry group providing UK container drayage out of Felixstowe among other ports; overlaps with 3PL in port-to-door container haulage but operates much broader multimodal services.
• Hoyer Group: International bulk liquid logistics and container haulage operator with European reach; offers comparable container drayage and intermodal services with broader geographic and modal coverage than 3PL.
• DSV: Global transport and logistics provider with road, air, sea and container haulage services in the UK; overlaps with 3PL on container drayage as part of a comprehensive freight forwarding offering.
• Eddie Stobart Logistics: Well-known UK road haulage and contract logistics brand with multimodal freight including container movements; broad incumbent competing for the same shipping line and importer/exporter freight that 3PL targets.
• DHL Freight: Deutsche Post DHL's road freight division offers UK and pan-European container and general freight haulage; competes for shipping line and freight forwarder drayage work across many of the same routes as 3PL.
• Kuehne + Nagel: Global freight forwarder with road container drayage and overland services in the UK and Europe; comparable haulage capability for forwarder/shipper clients but operating at much larger scale through a wider service portfolio.

Direct peers

• Pentalver Transport: Pentalver operates UK container haulage from Felixstowe, Southampton and London Gateway with depot networks serving shipping lines and freight forwarders; highly comparable specialist drayage competitor with similar port coverage.
• Maritime Transport Ltd: Largest UK-owned container haulier operating from Felixstowe and other major ports, providing drayage to shipping lines and forwarders; directly comparable in service mix, geography and customer base to 3PL.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 3PL