CLASSIFICATION AND FUNCTIONS OF THIRD PARTY LOGISTICS SERVICE PROVIDERS: A LITERATURE REVIEW

On the basis of content analysis, this paper provided a definition of third party logistics service providers (LSPs) before performing a classification and functions of third party logistics service providers and the importance that these LSPs play. Although the common consensus across literature with regards to the function of LSP is that it should be grounded in the definition of the underlying domain of logistics and its management, there has been several differing arguments on how to classify these LSPs concerning their roles or what they do. Drawing on the extant literature in supply chain management and logistics, this paper strives to demarcate the classifications and functions of these LSPs to provide a better understanding of third party logistics service providers.