Questions to Ask a Luggage 3PL

1. How do you control dimensional-weight freight?

Freight is usually the biggest cost on a luggage shipment. Carriers usually bill a light suitcase on the size of its box, which is called dimensional weight (DIM). Put it in a carton too big for it and you pay to ship the empty space as if it were product.

A good answer says what the warehouse does about it. We fit each carton to the unit, so you can potentially pay for the suitcase rather than the air around it, and the same team that packed the order chooses its carrier and service. Our guide to right-sized cartonization for travel gear goes into how the sizing works.

2. How do you keep shipments under oversize surcharge thresholds?

Big parcels pick up UPS and FedEx size fees on top of dimensional weight, and checked hardside suitcases and multi-piece sets sit right around the limits. We use the same carton sizing here, plus outer boxes built closely around awkward shapes, so an order is less likely to be charged extra at the label for a few inches.

3. How do you cartonize nested sets and route heavy, multi-piece orders?

Nested sets are the bulkiest orders in luggage, and they leave the most room to shrink a carton. Packing the smaller pieces inside the larger ones reduces the box size, and with it the dimensional weight on that one shipment. We nest sets to cut the carton size wherever the set allows it.

Heavy and multi-piece orders raise a separate question, because pallet freight (LTL) can cost less than parcel for bulk shipments. Which one wins depends on each order's weight and size. Find out whether a warehouse makes that call order by order or sends everything the same way. Our guide on how to ship bulky, low-density luggage works through the parcel or LTL choice.

4. How do you prevent damage to wheels, handles, and finishes?

Damage is the other big cost in luggage, and it turns up in the same few places, from the wheels and handle to the finish. Have a warehouse walk you through its actual pack-out. We box each piece in a heavier-duty carton, pad the wheels and handles, and check the pack before the label goes on. Oversized pieces are stored in large-format slots, so shells don't get scuffed before they reach the packing station. Then ask for the measured damage rate on items over 20 pounds, which a luggage partner should have. Our guide to damage-prevention packaging for wheels, handles, and finishes covers the pack-out in detail.

5. How do you inspect and route returns and warranty claims?

Luggage comes back often, from a scuff in transit to a wheel that fails once the bag is in use. How those returns are handled usually decides how much of their value you get back. Ask how a return is checked when it arrives, and where a damaged or warranty unit goes next.

Our returns team inspects and grades each unit on arrival, restocks what passes and sets the rest aside, so a scuffed suitcase doesn't go back out as new. Where a failed unit goes from there should be your brand's decision, and a good partner can show you how it follows the route you set. Our luggage returns and warranty workflow follows a return from start to finish.

6. Do you operate your own buildings, or hand the work to subcontractors?

A bulky, fragile unit gets handled many times between the dock and a customer's door. Each handoff to a subcontracted warehouse is a place where nobody owns the damage. So find out whether a partner runs its own buildings or passes the work down a chain of third parties.

We hold care, custody and control from the moment your inventory reaches our dock until the carrier takes the parcel, and again on returns. Our North American volume runs in facilities we operate. Our team works the floor, with agency staff added at peak. A luggage brand gets one company answering for receiving, storage, picking, packing and returns. With a product that damages this easily, that single point of accountability also helps keep damage down.

7. How do you handle smart or battery-powered luggage?

If your line includes smart luggage, you need this answer. Battery-powered pieces hold lithium cells. Carriers treat those as dangerous goods, so they can't ship like an ordinary suitcase. Our guide to travel-accessory kitting sets out the rules. Find out how a warehouse handles lithium-battery units for your exact SKUs, and which carrier services will take them. That tells you whether it can ship your smart line at all.

Bring your smart pieces to our team when we first talk. We'll go through how each one is classified, packed and documented for the carrier services you want to use.

8. How is your pricing laid out, and are there minimums or extra fees?

A single price per order doesn't show which cost is high. A quote broken out by cost shows where the money goes:

• storage
• pick and pack
• freight
• packaging
• returns

It also lets you compare partners on the cost that moves your total most. Check whether there are minimums and whether the quote is free. Our own quote is free and commits you to nothing. To see what pushes each cost up or down, read what drives luggage fulfillment cost.