Gartner Releases the First-Ever 4PL Magic Quadrant

Gartner has published its first Magic Quadrant for Fourth-Party Logistics (4PL), formally ranking providers that orchestrate end-to-end logistics networks for shippers, an industry step that effectively “institutionalizes” 4PL as a standalone category.

Gartner defines a 4PL as a supply chain services provider that designs, builds, implements and orchestrates all (or part) of an end-to-end logistics network, coordinating internal and external parties and delivering visibility, governance and optimization through integrated platforms.

The 4PL market has grown 10% over the past two years and is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 8.39% to reach $104.54 billion by the end of 2030, according to a study by Verified Market Reports. Gartner reports that 42% of surveyed supply chain leaders already outsource to a 4PL, with another 35% planning to do so within two years.

“Companies are choosing to make products in different locations, which results in a different flow of freight from various different countries, and that increases complexity, but also the flexibility that companies want to retain in the way that they deploy their global supply chain networks. I think those two are the key reasons why we’ve seen an increase in demand for 4PLs,” said David Gonzalez, vice president in the logistics, customer fulfillment and network design team at Gartner, and co-author of the 4PL MQ. “A 4PL is about managing the day-to-day transactions and the day-to-day components of a logistics service, either through infrastructure provided by subcontractors or managing other organizations and being able to combine all of those individual notes of service into one end-to-end process.”

Gartner lists “mandatory” service coverage as:

• • • Freight/transport management

    • Warehouse/distribution management

    • Purchase order management

The 2025 vendor landscape (by quadrant)

Leaders

• • • Kuehne + Nagel

    • 4flow

    • DHL Supply Chain

    • C.H. Robinson

    • GEODIS

    • Arvato

    • RXO

Challengers

• • • A.P. Moller–Maersk

    • HAVI

    • Martin-Brower

    • Unilog

    • UPS Supply Chain Solutions

Visionaries

• • • Uber Freight

    • Redwood Logistics

Niche Players

• • • Argus Logistics

    • DSV

    • Odyssey Logistics & Technology

With a dedicated Magic Quadrant now in place, Gartner is signaling that 4PL has become a distinct buying category, with a defined set of baseline services and a visible field of major providers.