AFS Logistics celebrates 40 years of 3PL excellence and growth

Founded in 1982, AFS Logistics (afs.net) celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Over the past four decades, the company has grown organically and via acquisitions to become a top 3PL in the U.S. and Canada, building a roster of over 1,800 clients, achieving an average client tenure of almost 12 years and generating more than $183 million in total annual client savings. AFS has completed 22 acquisitions in its 40-year history, most recently acquiring a Toronto-based freight audit and payment (FAP) company, resulting in AFS becoming the new, largest FAP company in Canada.

AFS is built on an industry-leading foundation in FAP and has since grown to offer a comprehensive range of technology-driven logistics services that account for nearly $11 billion in transportation spend annually. Today, AFS audits all modes of transportation, provides LTL and parcel cost management, transportation management, including both freight brokerage and freight forwarding, and offers customized analytical solutions.

“Over the last 40 years, the logistics industry has been characterized by constant change, making it difficult for shippers to manage their logistics,” says Brian J. Barker, Founder and Chairman, AFS Logistics. “We remain committed to helping our clients adapt and find value by combining our decades of experience with advanced data analytics.”

AFS continues to evolve, assembling the best people, processes and technology to equip clients for success in a changing marketplace. This approach provides a unique model of aligned interests and insights that businesses can rely on, building a high level of trust and significant cost savings, as exhibited by the company’s parcel audit and packaging solutions work with Cavender’s, a clothing retailer with online and brick-and-mortar operations.

Jim Thompson, Chief Financial Officer for Cavender’s, explains the impact AFS has on their logistics operation. “We’d be bleeding millions of dollars in excess freight costs if we didn’t have AFS. They have the expertise, knowledge and systems that our business needs, and they do everything more efficiently than we could.”

Bo Ricketts, Director of Operations for Cavender’s, expands on the relationship with AFS. “AFS has been a long-term ally and valued asset to our overall logistics operation. They work with our team toward common goals and have enabled us to focus on our core business rather than getting buried in the micro-management of carriers, claims and invoices. We know AFS always has our back!”

AFS has a history of industry leadership and continues to seek new ways to provide value to clients and the industry at large. Data plays a central role in how the company helps clients navigate a fast-changing market, with tailored, individual analysis and market-wide insights. On a quarterly basis, AFS publishes a freight index that provides not only historical insights, but a forward-looking perspective on where the freight market is headed.

“AFS launched the Cowen/AFS Freight Index just last year, which combines massive volumes of historical data with current macro and microeconomic factors. The index not only offers a quarterly performance snapshot, it provides predictive pricing for multiple sectors in the freight industry,” says Tom Nightingale, CEO, AFS Logistics. “This index is just one example of how we continue to evolve as a company, building on a solid foundation that Brian Barker laid 40 years ago.”