Relationship Reset · Case file
A $2.4M partnership, 90 days from renewal — and off track.
Resolve has been engaged to repair a strained 3PL/brand relationship before it reaches termination. Here's where things stand.
Trailhead Gear
brand~$40M outdoor & gear company
Meridian Fulfillment
3PLRegional e-commerce fulfillment
Annual value
$2.4M
annual contract value
Tenure
3 years
into the partnership
Renewal in
90 days
Sep 14, 2026
Flagged domains
5 of 5
all in dispute
The five flagged dispute domains
Peak planning
Capacity & readiness for Q4 volume
Forecasting variance
Accuracy of demand signals
Billing & invoicing
Surcharges & rate transparency
SLAs
Ship-by performance & remedies
Communication
Escalation & account cadence
What's at stake — how it went off track
$78K surprise peak surcharge
A Q4 peak storage surcharge the brand calls punitive and arbitrary — applied without warning.
Q4 forecast came in ~30% under actual
The brand's demand signal badly missed, leaving the 3PL scrambling for space and labor.
Ship-by SLA fell 98% → 89% in peak
Service dropped exactly when end customers were watching most.
Ops lead & account manager have stopped talking
Escalations now route around the relationship instead of through it.
Brand is quietly courting a competing 3PL
With renewal 90 days out, trust — and the $2.4M — is genuinely at risk.