Selecting a third-party logistics provider is a risk decision. The shipper is handing over a function their own customers depend on, and if it fails, the failure is visible to them rather than to you. Evaluation criteria reflect that, and they are more consistent across shippers than most providers assume.
Quick answer
Shippers screen on capability fit, network coverage, systems and visibility, compliance, financial stability and cultural fit — roughly in that order. A provider's website is where the first three are usually judged.
Capability fit against their actual operation
Can you handle their commodity, at their volume, with their service requirements and seasonal peaks? A shipper with a strong seasonal profile is specifically checking whether you can absorb the peak without service degradation. Generic capability statements do not answer this; capacity and handling detail does.
Network and coverage
Where are your facilities relative to their production, suppliers and customers? Which lanes do you run directly, and where do you rely on partners? Shippers are not necessarily opposed to partner networks, but they want the arrangement stated rather than discovered later.
Systems and visibility
This has moved up the list considerably. Which WMS and TMS do you run? What visibility does the customer get, and through what interface? Can you integrate with their systems, and by what method? Can you report on the metrics they are measured on internally? A provider that cannot describe its integration options concretely tends to be filtered out early.
Compliance and risk
Certifications relevant to their sector, customs and security authorizations, insurance levels, business continuity planning, and data protection where customer data is involved. In regulated sectors this is often a pass/fail gate applied before commercial discussion begins.
Financial stability
Shippers are assessing whether you will still be operating in three years, because switching providers is disruptive and expensive. Longevity, scale and evidence of stable operation all contribute. This is one reason a website that looks neglected does disproportionate damage: it reads as a signal about the business.
Performance measurement
How do you measure service, what do you commit to, and how do you report it? Shippers want to know which KPIs you track, how often you review them, and what happens when performance falls short. Willingness to be measured is itself a differentiator.
Account management and cultural fit
Who owns the relationship, how escalation works, and how problems get handled at two in the morning. This is decided in meetings rather than on a website, but the site should make clear that account structure exists and who is accountable.
What this means for your site
Most of the early screening happens before you know the shipper exists. If capability, coverage, systems and compliance are not clearly published, you are relying on being contacted for information a competitor already made available. Providers frequently discover they were eliminated at a stage they never saw.