Tony Runyan

Runyan argues that brands should weigh product-handling capability, outbound costs, peak capacity, warehouse management, and problem response alongside proximity to a team, port, or customer.

Runyan writes that saving on inbound transport can add cost to every outbound order, and asks who can handle the products at a candidate site and what happens when volume spikes. They also relay Matthew Hertz’s point about whether a local provider can handle the products, making clear that the point is Hertz’s, not theirs.

Read original

A forecast does not need to be exact to help a partner plan for growth.

Runyan says some brands they speak with have never been asked for a forecast. They consider directional, possibly wrong numbers better than none, and warn that a 3PL that never asks may struggle to keep up as a brand grows.

Read original

Their post uses specific thresholds and charges to show why brands should check their own package profiles and understand a 3PL’s carrier strategy.

In a post about 2026 holiday surcharges, Runyan lists oversize triggers including more than 96 inches in length, more than 130 inches in combined length and girth, more than 17,280 cubic inches, or more than 110 pounds. They also describe added demand and Additional Handling charges, and say Red Stag negotiates with carriers on Additional Handling.

Read original

They recommend checking this before signing rather than relying on a sales pitch.

After describing brands’ frustrations with delayed replies and repeatedly explaining their business, Runyan advises asking to speak with current clients, checking how long client-success staff have worked there, and asking how close they are to a warehouse. They describe Red Stag’s own support model separately as in-house and U.S.-based.

Read original

Start here to understand the cost problem before evaluating a 3PL's carrier strategy.

Tony Runyan explains how FedEx and UPS 2026 holiday demand surcharges affect large, heavy, and bulky shipments.

• The standard Large Package/Oversize surcharge is already about $300 per package, and a temporary Demand-Oversize charge can add about $117, bringing the two oversize line items to between $372.25 and $447.25.
• Thresholds that can trigger the oversize charge are 96 inches in length, 130 inches in combined length and girth, 17,280 cubic inches in volume, or 110 pounds in actual weight.
• Packages below those thresholds may still trigger Additional Handling, which during the holiday demand period adds roughly 20% on top of typical AHS, about $50 before discounts.
• Runyan says Red Stag Fulfillment negotiates AHS terms with carriers.

For brands planning a campaign

Use this checklist to evaluate 3PL partners: ask how the provider forecasts seasonal surcharges, negotiates Large Package/Oversize and AHS terms, and passes carrier savings back to the brand.

Explore the operational factors that change the calculation for big-and-heavy inventory.

Tony Runyan argues that a warehouse can be in the right city and still be wrong for a brand's inventory.

• In the State of Big, Heavy & Bulky Fulfillment report, about one in eight big-and-heavy brands named warehouse location as a biggest fulfillment challenge, more than twice the rate of brands shipping smaller, lighter products.
• Brands may optimize for proximity to their team, a port, or customers, but savings on the way in can become added costs on every order going out.
• Runyan highlights Matthew Hertz's point about who can actually handle the products in a desired location, what happens when volume spikes, who runs the warehouse, and who answers when something goes wrong.
• For big and heavy brands, the best location depends on those factors; the costs of a poor-fit 3PL can outweigh the transportation savings that made a city look attractive.

For brands planning a campaign

For a 3PL evaluation, score location on product-handling fit, labor availability, peak scalability, and escalation paths alongside freight savings. Ask finalist providers how they model inbound versus outbound tradeoffs.

Use this to judge whether a fulfillment partner plans for growth or simply reacts.

Tony Runyan says a CFO cares about the sales forecast, and the 3PL should too.

• Forecasts help a brand scale and plan, while letting a fulfillment partner plan space, labor, inventory positioning, and peak staffing.
• Many brands have never been asked for a forecast, and some do not have one ready to share.
• Runyan treats client forecasts as directional and possibly wrong, but argues that an imperfect forecast is better than none because it still supports planning and scalability.
• If a 3PL never asks for a sales forecast, brands should worry that the provider may not keep up as they grow.

For brands planning a campaign

Add forecast practices to the 3PL scorecard: ask whether the partner requests forecasts, how it uses them to plan space and labor, and what happens during peak or rapid growth.

Start with concrete reference-check questions that go beyond a sales pitch.

Tony Runyan uses a support-chatbot meme to capture common frustrations: waiting days for a reply, reaching someone who does not know the account, and re-explaining the business to a new representative.

• Runyan says Red Stag Fulfillment uses an in-house, U.S.-based client success team rather than a bot or outsourced support; clients reach a real person within one business day, usually with a next step already underway.
• Before signing, Runyan advises asking to speak with a couple of current clients, how long client success team members have been employees, and where they are located relative to a warehouse.
• Runyan says support quality is difficult to judge from a sales call.

For brands planning a campaign

Use these reference-check questions in the evaluation: calls with current clients, team tenure, support location relative to warehouses, and escalation ownership. Treat in-house versus outsourced support as a differentiator to verify, not assume.

The post is a short introduction, so treat it as a lead rather than a full transcript.

Tony Runyan says they had a great time talking with Jon Blair of Free to Grow CFO about how brands can partner with their 3PL for a successful peak season. The post points to that conversation rather than presenting a detailed written argument.

For brands planning a campaign

Use this as a conversation lead for CFO-facing peak planning. Ask for the full discussion before building campaign claims around it.

Their report found about one in eight big-and-heavy brands named warehouse location as a top fulfillment challenge, more than twice the rate for smaller, lighter products.

• Brands often optimise for proximity to their team, port, or customers, but inbound savings can add cost to every outbound order.
• The post also cites Matthew Hertz on whether a local provider can handle the products, who runs the warehouse during volume spikes, and who answers when something goes wrong.
• The best location depends on fit, and a poor 3PL match can outweigh transport savings.

References a State of Big, Heavy & Bulky Fulfillment report and a discussion with Matthew Hertz, using a survey-style statistic and a practical checklist of fit questions.

For brands planning a campaign

Use this for a 3PL evaluation that tests product handling, labour, escalation, and volume spikes at candidate locations—not just city-level proximity. Ask providers how they would prevent inbound savings from becoming per-order penalties.

Examples: Source 1

The post says the standard Large Package/Oversize surcharge is already around $300 per package, and a temporary Demand-Oversize charge of about $117 can push two oversize line items to $372.25-$447.25.

• It lists triggers: length over 96 inches, length plus girth over 130 inches, volume over 17,280 cubic inches, or actual weight over 110 pounds.
• Shipments below those thresholds can still incur Additional Handling, which adds roughly 20% during the holiday demand period, about a $50 surcharge before discounts.
• The post positions Red Stag Fulfillment as a partner focused on big and heavy products that negotiates carrier incentives, including on AHS.

For brands planning a campaign

For a peak-season brief, ask the 3PL to model surcharge exposure by package profile and explain its carrier negotiation levers. Use the thresholds and surcharge figures to check cost assumptions.

Examples: Source 1

Many brands they speak with have never been asked for a forecast and do not have one ready.

• They treat imperfect forecasts as useful and directional because they help a fulfillment partner plan and scale.
• The warning is blunt: if a 3PL has never asked for a sales forecast, a brand should question whether the provider can keep up as it grows.

For brands planning a campaign

Make forecasting part of the partner questionnaire. Ask how the 3PL uses a brand's forecast to plan peak labour and space, and request an example of planning from an imperfect or directional forecast.

Examples: Source 1

Red Stag Fulfillment uses an in-house, U.S.-based client success team that is never a bot or outsourced.

• Team members know the account and have a direct line to the warehouse floor, with the aim of replying within one business day with a next step.
• Before signing, ask to speak with a few current clients, how long client success staff have been employees, and where they are located relative to a warehouse.
• Support quality is nearly impossible to judge from a sales call.

For brands planning a campaign

Add a reference-check step to the 3PL evaluation: ask for current client contacts, staff tenure, and warehouse proximity. Use the answers to gauge escalation speed and problem-solving during peak.

Examples: Source 1

The subject fits Runyan's recurring focus on peak readiness and collaboration between fulfillment and finance functions.

Do not treat the announcement as a summary of the conversation; the post provides no detail from the discussion.

For brands planning a campaign

For a finance-oriented angle, Runyan has discussed peak-season 3PL partnership with a CFO audience. Ask for the full conversation before relying on its contents.

Examples: Source 1

The recurring arguments are that big-and-heavy logistics require fit-specific decisions, carrier costs and peak planning need to be modelled rather than assumed, and support and forecasting are operational tests, not sales claims.

For brands planning a campaign

Use this pattern to set campaign expectations: concise educational posts with a specific operational question, a concrete example, and a next-step resource.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3 · Source 4 · Source 5

They also promote the company's focus on big-and-heavy fulfillment and its carrier negotiation in a post about holiday surcharges.

View example

Ask whether the conversation involved a commercial relationship with Free to Grow CFO.

View example

Both also question whether a fulfillment partner is taking on more than it can handle.

Finch addresses shippers of a specific product category—bikes—and explains when a lane belongs on a truck rather than in the parcel network, including packaging splits. Runyan focuses on evaluating and managing a 3PL partner across big-and-heavy brands generally.

Read original · Original 2

Gulati writes from inside a large fulfillment platform, pairing cost analysis with technology and platform announcements, including an AI layer across the warehouse. Runyan focuses on partner selection, support quality, and forecasting practices.

Read original · Original 2

Robinson publishes a recurring weekly roundup of carrier news, tariffs, and pilots, and covers recovering loss and damage claims. Runyan writes single-topic posts about choosing and working with a fulfillment partner.

Read original · Original 2

The posts explain the Additional Handling trigger at 10,368 cubic inches and the Oversize trigger at 17,280 cubic inches, note that Oversize replaces the AHS charge instead of stacking on top of it, and argue that negotiated parcel and freight rates usually push the point where LTL becomes cheaper higher than published rates suggest.

• Another post makes the case that a 3PL should decline clients outside its specialty, which speaks directly to partner selection.
• Choose Finch for a campaign focused on carrier surcharge mechanics for one specific oversize product.

Finch's posts do not cover peak-season forecasting or warehouse location; ask another creator for those topics. The examples also sit inside one category, bikes, and focus on one decision— which lane a box ships in—so the treatment is deeper but narrower than Tony's.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

One post links diesel price movement to FedEx fuel surcharge percentages and per-mile freight fuel charges, then converts both into dollars on a real shipment, helping a finance audience see why total shipping cost moves while base rates stay flat.

• Another describes an AI layer running across an entire fulfillment network, including a connector that can reorder a SKU or reroute a shipment from inside an assistant.
• Choose Gulati when a campaign needs to show cost volatility from fuel or test a partner's claim that its technology changes the operating model.

Gulati's cost post is about fuel surcharges and general parcel and freight spend, not the oversize and big-and-heavy triggers a bulky-goods brand negotiates.

• The second post is written as a company product launch, so it reads as promotional rather than independent analysis.
• Ask for coverage of warehouse location and peak forecasting if the campaign needs those topics.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

The posts walk through the annual FedEx general rate increase, including reclassified delivery areas that moved roughly 2,500 zip codes into a higher residential surcharge tier, and a postal and marketplace same-day delivery pilot.

• Another post documents more than $470,000 in loss and damage claims recovered in sixteen weeks for one retail account, arguing that zero on a claims line usually means an unfiled pile rather than no eligible losses.
• Choose Robinson when the campaign needs to show a brand how rate changes and unclaimed money quietly move its shipping economics.

Robinson's coverage is parcel-wide and rate- or policy-focused rather than specific to big-and-heavy freight.

• The claims post is built around a company's own product, so it doubles as a vendor pitch.
• Ask another creator for coverage of warehouse location and peak forecasting.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2