3PL Leadership: Build Culture Before Adding Technology

Welcome to this episode of The New Warehouse Podcast. Today’s guest is Chad Carleton, CEO of Good Company, a direct-to-consumer e-commerce 3PL in Springfield, Missouri. The business grew from the fulfillment operation behind Everything Kitchens after an outside brand asked the team to handle its fragile dinnerware shipments.

Today, Good Company expects to ship four to five million orders across only 20 clients. Carleton explains why the company goes deep with fewer brands and builds dedicated workflows around them. He also shares lessons on warehouse culture, peer accountability, automation, AI, decision-making, and the pressures shaping the 3PL market.

Build the Operation Around the Customer

Good Company grew from the fulfillment operation behind Everything Kitchens. Its first outside client shipped fragile dinnerware and was breaking roughly one in eight shipments. Good Company reduced that rate to about one in 200. The team also shipped 250,000 units before year-end.

That experience shaped its customer-first model. Carleton says, “The North Star is just a happy recipient.” That focus extends into dedicated teams and client-specific workflows. “But if you’re willing to give up the real estate to set up a bespoke station for a single client, the efficiency gains are pretty meaningful.”

Specialization also requires discipline. “So we have to say no a lot to somebody that doesn’t fit the model; otherwise I think it would sacrifice the integrity of the rest of the fulfillment setup.” For 3PLs, fit can matter more than volume.

Make Accountability Part of the 3PL Leadership Culture

Carleton’s view of culture is simple. “Culture is not what you promote, it’s what you tolerate.” Good Company keeps accountability high and looks for people with the right mindset. “You’re looking for attitude and aptitude over anything else.”

Early in the company’s growth, Carleton introduced daily peer-accountability meetings. Employees could raise problems from that day, including issues with 3PL leadership. Within three weeks, 50% of the staff quit. Within two more weeks, performance increased. The team hit its numbers without replacing those employees. “We’re on a five-week run of hitting 100% SLA. Culture is a hard snowball to get rolling, but once it’s really moving it can sweep people up with it.”

The lesson was bigger than labor productivity. When people feel confident that the person next to them is going to work as hard as they are, they feel accountable to that person too.” 

Technology Must Follow the Result

After touring at least 30 facilities, Carleton remains selective about warehouse automation. “The best I’ve seen is sensible automation with a very clear ROI calculator.” He points to conveyors, package sorters, mobile intelligence, and pick-to-light as technologies with visible efficiency gains.

His view of AI is more optimistic, especially for decision support. “So I’ve appreciated that in our 3PL leadership teams, a lot of this research is AI-assisted to help us model things out and make a lot better decisions.” Good Company also used AI while modeling technology ROI for its new facility.

But faster tool creation can create its own trap. Carleton asks, “Is this a results-focused tool? And if not, I would say scrap it.” The better sequence is to identify what already drives results, then build technology around it.

Key Takeaways on Leading a 3PL

• Customer fit can protect operational quality better than indiscriminate growth.
• Dedicated client workflows can create efficiency despite using more space.
• Strong cultures depend on accountability, psychological safety, 3PL leadership, and employee ownership.
• Automation should solve a visible operational problem with measurable ROI.
• AI can improve analysis and decision-making without becoming another unused tool.

Listen to the episode below and leave your thoughts in the comments.

Guest Information

For more information on Good Company, click here.

To connect with Chad Carleton on LinkedIn, click here.

For more information about 3PL Leadership, check out the podcasts below. 

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How to Help Your Leadership Team Justify Investing in Warehouse Automation

Warehouse Talent Recruitment and the Rise of Human-Centered Leadership