Your shipping rates do not move with you by default. Whether they follow you to the new warehouse or stay behind depends on one thing: whose name the parcel and freight contracts were in at the old one.
Whose name is the carrier account in?
Two setups exist, and they lead to different outcomes. If the old 3PL holds the carrier account, the rates are part of its agreement with the carriers, and you leave them behind when you leave. If the account is in your brand's name, the agreement is with you, and it survives the move.
You can see which setup you have on documents you already hold: the account name on shipping labels, and who the carrier bills each month.
What happens to rates that are already in your name?
The account stays yours when the warehouse changes. The carriers hold an agreement with your company, not with a building. Check one thing before you set a move date: any volume commitment written into that agreement. Overlap weeks and a slower transition than planned can pull your weekly package count down, and commitments read differently at low volume. Read the language before you give notice, not after.
What if the old 3PL held the account?
Then you start as a new shipper, rated on your own volume. Gather the evidence before you ask: 90 days of invoices, packages per week, weight and zone mix, and the accessorials you actually get charged. Carriers rate a shipping profile, not a promise of future volume. A brand that arrives with its own invoice history gets quoted on real numbers instead of estimates.
What should I do in the two months before the move?
- Read the current contract: the notice period, the exit terms, and who holds each carrier account.
- Export 90 days of shipping invoices and labels before your access to the old systems ends.
- Check volume commitments in any carrier agreement that is in your name, and set the move date around them.
- Ask the new 3PL directly whether it ships on brand-named carrier accounts or only on its own.
- Plan the overlap weeks: two warehouses serving orders, two sets of minimum charges, one person watching both invoices.
Does the new 3PL have to use your carrier accounts?
Some fulfillment operators will ship on your accounts and some will not. Ask before you sign, and get the answer written into the contract. If the new warehouse ships only on its own rates, the warehouse decision and the rates decision are fused together again, which is the position you were trying to leave.
Who holds what before and after the move?
| Old 3PL held the account | Account in your name | |
|---|---|---|
| Carrier agreement | Theirs; it ends when you leave | Yours; it follows you |
| Invoice history | In their system; export it | In your records already |
| Volume commitments | Inside their carrier deal | Inside yours; check before notice |
| Rate decisions after the move | Start again with carriers | Yours to keep or change |
The same ownership logic applies to your operational data. Export rules and exit deadlines are covered in What happens to my data when I switch 3PLs?, and how to prove out the new warehouse before committing full volume in How do I test a new 3PL before moving all my volume?.
If you want the transportation side of a move handled separately from the warehouse decision, new3PL is an independent adviser that contracts parcel and freight in the brand's own name. It is not a fulfillment operator.
FAQ
Does switching 3PLs affect my shipping rates?
Only if the old 3PL held the carrier account; those rates end with that relationship. If the account is in your name, the agreement follows you, and what you do with it afterwards is a separate decision with the carriers.
Can I keep my carrier account when I change 3PLs?
Yes, if the account is in your brand's name; it belongs to you, not the warehouse. Confirm the new 3PL accepts brand-named accounts before you sign.
When should I tell my current 3PL I am leaving?
When the notice period in your contract requires it, and not before your move date is set. Check the notice, exit and transition clauses together before you give notice.