What do LTL, 3PL and 4PL mean respectively?

1, the so-called less-than-truckload goods means that the weight or volume of the goods consigned by a cargo waybill (a batch) is not enough for one vehicle (that is, it is not enough for the transportation of the whole vehicle).

2. When the weight or volume of a batch of goods is smaller than that of a truck, one truck can be used to transport other batches or even hundreds of batches of goods. This kind of transportation is called LTL transportation.

3. LTL consignment regulations: In order to facilitate loading and storage, each batch of LTL goods shall not exceed 300 pieces, and the minimum volume of each LTL goods shall not be less than 0.02 cubic meters (except for single pieces weighing more than 10 kg).

4. Less-than-carload consignment is not accepted for the following goods:

(1) Goods that need to be refrigerated, insulated or heated for transportation;

(2) Dangerous goods limited to whole vehicles;

(3) Contaminants (such as bones, wet fur, feces, carbon black, etc.) that easily pollute other goods. (a) without disinfection or sealed packaging;

(4) bees;

(5) Goods that are difficult to calculate;

(6) live animals that are not loaded into containers (except those that can be loaded into pipes for transportation according to the provisions of the Railway Bureau);

(7) Goods with a weight of more than 2 tons, a volume of more than 3 cubic meters or a length of more than 9 meters (except for the loading and unloading operations at the transfer station and the arrival station confirmed by the originating station).

5, in the special line or special railway to organize direct package LTL transportation, with the consent of the railway sub-bureau, the station and the shipper should negotiate and sign an agreement; If the organization transfers LTL, it should be approved by the Railway Bureau.

Respondents: Deep Throat 5 180- Manager Level 5 1-2 1 20: 14.

First, what is the third party logistics

The so-called third-party logistics refers to a logistics management mode in which production and operation enterprises entrust their logistics activities to professional logistics service enterprises through contracts in order to concentrate their main business, and at the same time keep close contact with logistics enterprises through information systems, so as to realize the control of the whole process of logistics management.

The third party logistics, expressed in English as 3PL or TPL, is relative to the consignor of Party A and the consignee of Party B.. Third-party logistics does not belong to Party A or Party B, but provides its professional logistics services through cooperation with Party A or Party B.. It does not own goods or participate in the sales of goods, but provides customers with serialized, personalized and information-based logistics agency services based on contracts and alliances. The most common third-party logistics services include designing logistics system, EDI function, report management, cargo integration, carrier selection, freight forwarder, customs declaration agent, information management, warehousing, consulting, freight payment and freight negotiation. Because the service mode of the industry is generally to sign logistics service contracts with enterprises for a certain period of time, some people call third-party logistics "contract logistics". ⑤

The internal composition of third-party logistics can generally be divided into two categories: asset suppliers and non-asset suppliers. For asset suppliers, they have their own means of transportation and warehouses, and they usually carry out logistics operations. Non-asset-based suppliers are management companies and do not own or lease assets. They provide human resources and advanced logistics management system, and specialize in managing customers' logistics functions. Generalized third-party logistics can be defined as the combination of the two. Therefore, the strict management of warehousing, transportation and other logistics links, as well as a large number of logistics talents with professional knowledge, enable it to effectively operate the entire logistics system. Therefore, the third party logistics is also called "logistics alliance".

Second, the legal definition of third-party logistics

Literally, third-party logistics refers to a form of logistics in which professional enterprises other than consignors and consignees related to goods, that is, third parties, undertake enterprise logistics activities. In the relevant professional works, the third-party logistics provider is defined as "an enterprise that determines the return through the contract and undertakes all or part of the logistics activities of the owner's enterprise." The services provided can be divided into three types: operation-related services, management-related services and both. Any form must be higher than the services provided by ordinary carriers and contract carriers in the past.

Where do the profits of third-party logistics enterprises come from? Essentially, it comes from the new value generated by the popularization of modern logistics management science, which is also the source of the third profit we often say. On the other hand, the third-party logistics takes the rationalization of the logistics of the client's enterprise as the goal of designing the system and system operation management, and strives for the maximization of customers' profits. The operating benefit of the third-party logistics enterprise is directly related to the logistics efficiency, logistics service level and logistics system effect of the cargo owner enterprise, which is the integration of interests. It's not a traditional trading method in which one party earns more and the other party earns less. The more logistics costs are saved for customers, the higher the profit rate, which is essentially different from the traditional mode of operation.

Therefore, the author thinks that third-party logistics is a series of personalized logistics services provided by third-party logistics providers to users at a specific price in a specific period, and it is an alliance between enterprises.

First of all, the third party logistics is a series of contract-oriented services. Third party logistics is different from traditional outsourcing. Outsourcing is limited to one or a series of decentralized logistics functions, such as transportation services provided by transportation companies and warehousing services provided by warehousing companies. Third-party logistics is to provide multi-functional or even all-round logistics services according to the requirements stipulated in the contract terms, rather than temporary demand. According to international practice, the service provider charges the logistics cost plus 20% of the gross profit of the demand side during the contract period.

Second, the third party logistics is an alliance between enterprises. Third-party logistics enterprises fully enjoy information and need mutual trust to achieve better results than logistics activities alone. And from the charging principle of logistics service providers, they are * * * taking risks and * * * enjoying benefits; Furthermore, the association between enterprises is not only one or two market transactions, but also the exchange of trading objects after such transactions have been maintained for a certain period of time. In behavior, they do not completely take the behavior that leads to the maximization of their own interests, nor do they completely take the behavior that leads to the maximization of the same interests. They just form an intermediate organization with equal advantages and risks and two-way or multi-direction flow through contracts in logistics. Therefore, between enterprises,

The characteristics of third-party logistics contract.

At present, the laws and regulations on third-party logistics are in a vacuum. In the process of dealing with related disputes, we can only mechanically add up the clauses on warehousing, transportation and entrusted processing in the contract law and adjust them immediately.

Based on the theoretical analysis of contract law and related logistics works, the author thinks that third-party logistics contract has the following five characteristics:

1, the third party logistics refers to the logistics enterprise providing logistics services to others, but the third party

Logistics is not a labor contract in the traditional sense. Providing labor services is only a part of the business scope of third-party logistics enterprises, including warehousing, transportation, loading and unloading, etc. As mentioned above, third-party logistics is also a strategic alliance, which not only provides services for others, but also selects suppliers, purchases and applies information management systems for customers. Therefore, the third-party logistics also integrates the functions of entrustment, agency and even trust.

2. third-party logistics contract is a double-service paid contract.

Both parties have the obligation to pay each other: one party provides logistics services, and the other party pays remuneration and expenses. On the other hand, customers should show the authenticity, effectiveness and safety of the subject matter that needs to be handled by logistics enterprises. Because in order to reduce costs, third-party logistics enterprises usually take the whole package or unpack another package, which requires customers to truly explain the nature of the goods (flammable, explosive, corrosive, toxic, etc. ) and provide relevant information. Because other subject matter may be affected during packaging or unpacking. At the same time, third-party logistics enterprises require customers to provide corresponding legal documents: invoices, warehouse receipts and other valid original evidence for the subject matter entrusted by them. In the whole process of packaging or unpacking, the nature of the original subject matter will be confused, and the illegal will be transformed into legal and the stolen goods will become legal and effective commodities. Therefore, in the actual operation process, logistics enterprises should also fulfill the following obligations for the subject matter delivered by customers:

1) Acceptance obligation. Logistics enterprises check and verify the goods they handle, and ask customers to provide relevant information if it is dangerous.

2) Logistics enterprises as operating enterprises should have corresponding processing conditions, including hardware and software. For example, there are freight yards, sorting equipment, balers with specific functions, special bar code readers, chutes for handling hazardous materials, etc. Of course, there should also be related software support in computer system processing. At the same time, logistics enterprises should be equipped with professional knowledge personnel, including chemical, biological, loading and unloading professionals. If a logistics enterprise does not meet the above conditions, it is required to fulfill its acquisition and improvement obligations.

3) Inspection obligation. Logistics enterprises should deal with the source and nature of the subject matter when dealing with the subject matter of customers.

Audit, require customers to provide original documents and go through the necessary filing and household registration procedures.

3. One party to a contract is a specific subject.

In third-party logistics contract, the party that deals with the subject matter must be a third-party logistics enterprise invested and established, and it is a legal person that specializes in providing services and collecting remuneration. As we all know, the prosperity of logistics industry is because logistics is called "the third profit source". It is undeniable that logistics is indeed composed of warehousing, transportation, processing, information processing and other processes, but minimizing the mechanical sum of each process does not mean minimizing profits. Therefore, logistics enterprises are franchised enterprises that co-ordinate and comprehensively handle the above processes. Therefore, other units, such as single warehousing, transportation units or entrusted processing units, cannot become professional logistics operators.

4. The logistics contract should be a commitment contract ②.

This is determined by the nature of logistics. Before the customer delivers the subject matter, the logistics enterprise may have paid some costs for the performance of the contract, such as vacating positions, sorting out warehouses, arranging vehicles, etc., or it may refuse the offer of potential customers because of the scale of the logistics enterprise itself. Therefore, as long as the contract is declared through the customer's quotation and the commitment of the logistics enterprise. This is not only beneficial to logistics enterprises, but also to customers, thus maintaining the security of transactions between the two parties. Because if the contract is a practice contract, the contract will not be established before the customer delivers the subject matter. This means that customers can arbitrarily change their previous commitments as long as they don't actually deliver the subject matter, and they are not bound by the contract, which greatly increases the risk of damage to logistics enterprises. Even if the customer's contracting fault is investigated, the litigation cost makes the logistics enterprises have no energy to ask questions, and in fact, it often goes away. Similarly, the actual contract also increases the risk of customers. After the quotation and commitment between customers and logistics enterprises, customers spend a lot of money to buy consumables, and logistics enterprises provide them with services including design schemes according to the original plan, and make profits after accounting and distribution. When the customer is ready to deliver the subject matter, the logistics enterprise breaks the contract itself, which can be said to have caused two losses to the customer: the value of consumables is constantly diluted, and if the product is not listed in time, the customer will lose everything. To sum up, it is more practical and safe to agree on a contract in order to reduce risks and facilitate transaction security.

5. The logistics contract should be mandatory.

Any industry should have a unified standard text format, so should the logistics industry. In order to maintain industry standards and prevent some enterprises from monopolizing industries, certain formats should be followed. This is not only conducive to standardizing the entire logistics industry market and preventing the occurrence of restrictive competition, but also beneficial from the perspective of protecting customers.

Four, the legal classification of the third party logistics business format

Looking at the logistics industry in China today, the third-party logistics enterprises mainly have two business forms.

First, third-party logistics enterprises accept the entrustment of customers and handle related goods according to the requirements put forward by customers. In fact, the business model of this format is essentially a entrusted legal relationship, which belongs to the primary format in the sense of logistics theory. Its manifestation is to handle the affairs of the client, pay a certain fee according to the entrusted matters, and the trustee (logistics enterprise) collects the fee according to the actual cost plus profit and provides corresponding services. If the client fails to fulfill the obligation of informing, thus causing losses to the equipment of the trustee and the equipment and articles of other clients, and the agent has fulfilled the obligation of examination (Article 406 of the Contract Law, Obligations of the Agent), and the agent is exempted from liability, thus causing losses to a third party, the third party shall directly recover from the client at fault. In the actual operation process, it is often adjusted according to the relevant terms of the entrustment contract. For example, in Article 407 of the Contract Law, if the trustee suffers losses due to reasons not attributable to him, he may claim compensation from the principal. (3) Therefore, the main form of third-party logistics is essentially entrusted legal relationship. At present, China's logistics has just started, so most logistics enterprises are established based on this entrustment relationship.

Secondly, another mode is that logistics enterprises look for suppliers, agents and distributors in the name of logistics enterprises according to customer requirements, and at the same time provide customers with corresponding warehousing, transportation, packaging and other services, and design logistics solutions for customers. This model is often a long-term alliance and cooperation between the third-party logistics service enterprises and the end customers by establishing a stable contractual relationship with fixed customers (usually chain enterprises) and a wide range of commodity relations with production in the name of logistics enterprises. This business model is an advanced business model of third-party logistics. In actual activities, according to the characteristics of the activities of third-party logistics enterprises, the author thinks that this is an anonymous agency behavior rather than a disciplinary behavior. (4) Anonymous agency is the concept of common law system, which means that the agent enters into a contract with a third party in his own name within the scope authorized by the principal, and the third party knows the agency relationship between the agent and the principal when concluding the contract, so long as the agent conforms to the principal's interests, the principal should bear the responsibility. The fundamental difference between it and the trustee-trader is that the trustee-trader can only engage in foreign activities in his own name, so he can't confront the principal when concluding a contract with a third party. In practice, manufacturers, suppliers and other companies have a buyout and agency relationship with third-party logistics enterprises, and third-party logistics enterprises carry out handling, distribution and processing according to the orders of end customers. It can be seen that in this mode, the third party knows that the logistics enterprise is actually the agent of the end customer, but the third party logistics enterprise does not have a relationship with the end customer in its own name, and the responsibility is borne by the end customer. It should be pointed out that in this process, logistics enterprises exceed their authority for their own interests, and their actions are invalid. Moreover, due to the fault of the third party, the third party is directly responsible for the final customer. (Usually, the manufacturer's goods cause losses to the supermarket, and the manufacturer should bear the fault responsibility and compensate the supermarket. The above business activities can show that the advanced commercial format of third-party logistics is actually an anonymous agent's behavior.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) conclusion

With the development of logistics industry, the third party logistics is an important form of logistics specialization. When the logistics industry develops to a certain stage, the third party logistics will inevitably appear, and the share of the third party logistics is closely related to the level of the logistics industry. At present, China's logistics level is still in its infancy, with unlimited potential and challenges. The purpose of this paper is to explore the legal definition of logistics without perfecting the relevant laws and regulations of logistics in China, hoping to play a role in attracting jade.

Interviewee: 370 1 16- 8th grade Jinshi 4-23 18:50.

Fourth party logistics

As a new logistics model, "third party logistics" is active in the circulation field, and its function of saving logistics costs and improving logistics efficiency has been recognized by many enterprises. With the improvement of enterprise requirements, "third party logistics" began to be unable to integrate the logistics resources of the whole society to solve the logistics bottleneck and maximize efficiency; Although the third-party logistics is partially efficient, the third-party logistics enterprises are scattered in a region and a country as a whole, and it is difficult to achieve the optimal results and solve the logistics bottleneck in economic development, especially the new logistics bottleneck in e-commerce. In addition, the development of logistics industry needs the promotion of technical experts and management consulting experts, while the third-party logistics just lacks the support of high-tech and high-quality talents.

It has been suggested that the relationship between customers and third-party logistics must be close and standardized. So "4PL (Fourth Party Logistics)" came into being.

The concept of "fourth party logistics" was first put forward by Accenture, a famous management consulting company, and registered as a proprietary service trademark, which is defined as "a supply chain integrator who deploys and manages the resources, capabilities and technologies of the organization itself and complementary service providers and provides comprehensive supply chain solutions". Although some people in the industry suspect that consulting companies are suspected of monopolizing industries, it is generally recognized in the industry that the increasingly complex logistics management and the explosive development of information technology really need a "super manager" to manage and coordinate in the process of supply chain management. Moreover, academic circles, management consulting companies, third-party logistics companies and end customers all think that the demand for such entities is growing. Its main function should be to monitor the supply chain of manufacturing enterprises or distribution enterprises and act as the only "contact person" between customers and their logistics and information suppliers.

What is the significance of "the fourth party logistics", a new imported product, to the logistics industry in China or to the economic competitiveness and industry development in China? So far, there is no authoritative comment and discussion in China. The author tries to give you a comprehensive introduction through some understanding of the internationally accepted supply chain management in the logistics industry and comprehensive relevant information.