A First-party logistics provider (abbreviated 1PL) is a firm or an individual that needs to have cargo, freight, goods, produce or merchandise transported from a point A to a point B. The term first-party logistics provider stands both for the cargo sender and for the cargo receiver.
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A 1PL can be anything from a manufacturer, to a trader, buying office, importer/exporter, wholesaler, retailer, and a distributor in the international commerce field.
It can also be institutions such as government department, NGO, associations, military, and post.
An individual or a family moving from one place to another also needs to have its personal effects(goods/things) transported from their place of origin to their new place, and is considered as a first-party logistics provider.
Typically the first-party logistics providers subcontract their transportation's needs to 2PLs and 3PLs, which are companies specialized in transportation. This helps the 1PL to benefit from cheaper transportation prices thanks to the specialization of the 2PLs and 3PLs, and the subsequent economies of scale.
The transportation needed by the 1PL can be anything from transportation by ship, barge, aircraft, train, van or truck.
In the freight industry, first-party logistics providers are called differently depending whether they are the sender of the merchandise or the receiver of the merchandise:
In the "PL" terminology, it is important to differentiate the 1PL from the:
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