{"id":8996,"date":"2026-09-22T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/?p=8996"},"modified":"2026-09-22T13:38:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T18:38:25","slug":"what-your-3pl-doesnt-know-is-costing-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/what-your-3pl-doesnt-know-is-costing-you\/","title":{"rendered":"What Your 3PL Doesn\u2019t Know Is Costing You"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/058.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"489\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/058.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8947\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/058.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/058-300x163.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/058-768x417.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How <a href=\"http:\/\/boxtalk.ai\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BoxTalk.ai<\/a> helps 3PLs find the profit hiding in their own data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BY SANDY SMITH<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>FOR MOST THIRD<\/strong> party logistics providers, data is both the lifeblood of the business and its biggest source of frustration. Any number of systems can generate volumes of information but too often that information isn\u2019t compiled into one overall picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That gap\u2014between the data 3PLs have and the action items they need\u2014is what <a href=\"http:\/\/boxtalk.ai\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BoxTalk.ai<\/a> set out to solve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cofounders Kyle Ivins and Rob Glance come to the challenge from complementary angles: Ivins with a product and datasystems background, and Glance with more than two decades of hands\u2011on 3PL leadership. With BoxTalk, they\u2019ve built a platform designed to give information owners a real\u2011time, reconciled view of their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While its initial phase is aimed at 3PLs, BoxTalk expects to expand with tools for shippers and brands, including carrier\u2011invoice reconciliation and 3PL invoice auditing in late 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A SIMPLE START<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ivins says the idea for BoxTalk emerged from a simple observation: &#8220;Every 3PL is, without knowing it, a data company. They don\u2019t get into it for that reason, but there\u2019s so much information streaming in from carriers and all their different systems.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The problem is that the data rarely matches until billing forces it to. &#8220;Teams were spending multiple people almost the entire week just to get bills out,&#8221; Ivins says. &#8220;We knew that was a problem that needed solving.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As BoxTalk began interviewing 3PL leaders, one theme kept resurfacing: billing was the central bottleneck that prevented them from understanding their own profitability based on customer or product type. &#8220;The only time the data gets reconciled and put into one place is when the bills are put together,&#8221; Ivins says. &#8220;And there was no real FinTech leader in the space doing the entire cycle from data ingestion all the way through automating accounts receivable and collections.&#8221;<a href=\"https:\/\/openlightbox\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">AFTER THE HARD WORK IS DONE<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While BoxTalk is often described as an AI\u2011driven platform, Ivins is quick to clarify where AI fits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;AI plays a very small role in the actual billing,&#8221; he says. &#8220;Billing has to be about data rigor, data engineering.&#8221; Once the data is reconciled and &#8220;penny perfect,&#8221; AI becomes a powerful layer on top of the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With clean data, BoxTalk\u2019s AI can answer operational questions, spot anomalies, simulate pricing scenarios and help 3PLs build rate cards for new customers. &#8220;Once you set up billing and you\u2019re good there\u2014which is really the hard part\u2014then you can start to ask our system any question about the business and it knows the right answer,&#8221; Ivins says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some operators try to build their own insight agents using widely available AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude. Ivins says the limitations become clear quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;You would not want to trust Claude to be doing the level of data analysis that you need,&#8221; he says. Exceptions, changing carrier formats and evolving WMS processes all break DIY systems. &#8220;Software atrophies. You build something once and it works, and then a couple weeks later it suddenly doesn\u2019t.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/library\/item\/0426_volume_14__issue_4\/4362024\/\">Click here to read the full article.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"http:\/\/istock.com\/\">ISTOCK.COM<\/a>\/ANDREYPOPOV<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How BoxTalk.ai helps 3PLs find the profit hiding in their own data BY SANDY SMITH FOR MOST THIRD party logistics providers, data is both the lifeblood of the business and its biggest source of frustration. Any number of systems can generate volumes of information but too often that information isn\u2019t compiled into one overall picture. &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":8947,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[117,4134,442,1902,1907,4135,4088,466],"class_list":["post-8996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-article","category-features","tag-3pl","tag-boxtalk-ai","tag-mhi-solutions","tag-mhi-solutions-magazine","tag-mhisolutionsmag","tag-startup","tag-startup-community","tag-supply-chain"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Your 3PL Doesn\u2019t Know Is Costing You - MHI Solutions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/22\/what-your-3pl-doesnt-know-is-costing-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Your 3PL Doesn\u2019t Know Is Costing You - MHI Solutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How BoxTalk.ai helps 3PLs find the profit hiding in their own data BY SANDY SMITH FOR MOST THIRD party logistics providers, data is both the lifeblood of the business and its biggest source of frustration. 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