A B2B 3PL RFP is written around pallet economics and retail compliance rather than parcel counts: what it costs to receive, store, and ship freight in pallet and case quantities, exchange EDI documents with retail customers, and hit the routing-guide requirements that keep chargebacks off your invoices. The cost drivers are storage positions, handling moves, and case-pick labour — in Canada in 2026, pallet handling runs $7-20 per move and storage $12-40 per position per month depending on the market (Warehouse Bridge network data). This guide covers what wholesale and B2B shippers specifically need to spec and compare; the general RFP process and timeline — requirements building, vendor counts, evaluation weeks — is in the companion guide.
The B2B spec sheet
Quotes become comparable when every bidder prices the same profile:
- Pallet volume in/out per month — with seasonality. Handling is billed per move, so turns matter as much as positions.
- Peak storage positions — and how long peak lasts. A 3PL sizing for your average will fail your peak.
- Case-pick vs pallet-out split — the labour driver. Full-pallet operations and case-pick operations are different businesses; a facility built for one prices the other badly.
- Retail customers by name — each brings a routing guide, appointment regime, and chargeback schedule.
- EDI document set — 850/856/810 minimum, plus 940/945 if an ERP or 4PL sits in the flow.
- Compliance needs — lot tracking, FEFO rotation, CFIA/HACCP for food, bonded storage for imports.
What to ask that general RFPs miss
“Which retailers do you ship into today?” The single best predictor of chargeback performance. A 3PL already shipping to your retail customers has internalized their routing guides — label placement, pallet ti-hi, ASN timing — on someone else’s tuition. Ask for their chargeback rate and how disputes get handled.
EDI depth. Native to the WMS or bolted on via a third-party VAN? Who pays per-document fees? How fast does an 856 go out after the truck leaves — because a late ASN is a chargeback even when the freight is perfect.
Appointment discipline. Retail DCs run tight windows, and missed appointments cascade into fines and refused loads. Ask how scheduling is staffed and what their on-time appointment rate is.
Storage billing mechanics. Per position, per pallet-day, or per square foot — and what happens when your inventory exceeds forecast. The cheap headline rate often hides a punitive overage tier.
B2B benchmarks (2026)
| Market | Pallet handling (per move) | Pallet storage (per mo) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto / GTA | $10 – $18 | $18 – $35 | Retail DC density, CN/CP intermodal |
| Montreal | $9 – $16 | $16 – $32 | Port access, Quebec retail + bilingual docs |
| Calgary | $8 – $15 | $14 – $28 | Western distribution at the best economics |
| Vancouver | $12 – $20 | $20 – $40 | Import gateway, tightest market |
| Winnipeg | $7 – $13 | $12 – $24 | Lowest rates, central position |
Cross-dock and freight consolidation ride the same networks — container destuffing runs $325-700 by market — covered in the cross-docking vs transloading guide. Full tables in the Canadian Warehouse Market Report.
When B2B shippers skip the RFP
Below roughly 1,000 orders or a few hundred pallets monthly, the formal process is overhead without leverage. Direct evaluation of pre-vetted operators — or a brokered match that arrives already normalized — gets the same comparability in days. Our live pricing flow prices pallet programs against the market in under a minute, drawing on 3PL capacity across the GTA and 25+ Canadian markets, and the warehouse cost calculator models the storage math before you talk to anyone.