War Is Hitting Your Shipping Costs, Best Bicoastal 3PLs & Connex Partner Spotlight 📦

Brent crude crossed $120. Hormuz is effectively closed. Here's what that means for your per-order cost — and how to protect your margins.

Industry Insights & Resources 🎯

Welcome to edition #38. Let's dive in!

War, Gas Prices & Your Shipping Costs: What's Actually Happening ⚠️

Brent crude crossed $120/barrel. The Strait of Hormuz — through which a huge share of global shipping passes — has effectively closed to Western-allied vessels. Maersk, CMA CGM, MSC, and Hapag-Lloyd have all suspended operations through the strait.

This isn't just a headline. Fuel surcharges update weekly. Container rates have already jumped 12%. And if your supply chain doesn't even touch the Gulf, you're still paying the global volatility premium through higher carrier base rates.

We broke down the full picture — how the mechanics work, which costs are already hitting invoices, and what a well-matched 3PL can do to buffer your margins right now.

New Guide: The 15 Best Bicoastal 3PLs (2026) 📍

If you're shipping nationwide, single-location fulfillment is costing you — in zones, in speed, and in carrier rates. Bicoastal 3PLs solve that by keeping inventory on both coasts so most orders ship in 1–2 zones instead of 4–6.

We ranked the 15 best based on verified performance across multiple facilities (no pay-to-play). Standouts include Smart Warehousing (multi-vertical, PA/FL/GA + CA/WA/NV), Selery Fulfillment (omnichannel apparel & supplements), Red Stag Fulfillment (big & bulky), and ShipMonk (scaling DTC brands across 4 locations).

Partner Spotlight: Connex Ecommerce 🤝

The integration layer your stack was never built to include.

For Brands You've outgrown out-of-the-box integrations — but a full custom build isn't on the table. Connex offers a powerful middle ground. Its flexible rules engine and deep customization connects your entire workflow — from orders to accounting — without the cost and complexity of custom development.

For 3PLs Your clients' workflows don't fit standard integrations — and you're left filling the gap manually. Connex gives you the flexibility to make it work. Its highly customizable platform adapts to complex fulfillment and data flows — so you can deliver tailored solutions without the time and expense of building from scratch.

Looking Ahead 👀

Next up: more regional rankings, operator-level insights, and the 3PL Reviews Leaderboard is still coming — 3PLs, if you haven't started collecting reviews from your brand partners yet, now's the time.

  • What do you want us to cover? Hit "reply" — we read every response and it directly shapes what we publish next.

  • Know a brand outgrowing their 3PL? Send them to [email protected] and we'll make sure they don't end up with the wrong partner.

Talk soon,

Joe, Dan, and the Fulfill Team