COC

Shipper-owned containers, thus SOCs have quite good effects for the shipping company rather than employing a 3PL, providing flexibility and being fully controlled by the shipper. Thus, SOCs are free from continuous charges and limitations that define the rental of the carrier-owned containers (COCs), which make them a favorable solution for companies with ongoing shipments to the remote or low-traffic SEZs. However, it is very important to put into consideration some attributes that relate to SOC ownership, for instance, establishment costs, recurrent costs in most cases being maintenance of the SOC, and the space needed to store the SOC. Shipping is paramount in the e-commerce environment, and managing it well can be arduous for any business, let alone one that is heavily invested in growing its enterprise beyond the operational concerns of a logistics company. This is where outsourcing to a third-party logistics or 3PL company such as ShipBob is advantageous. ShipBob offers ecommerce companies a complete warehousing and order fulfillment solution at discounted rates by offering access to its network of freight partners. From the evaluation of their special shipping needs and overall objectives, it is easy for the companies to differentiate between the way that investments in SOCs will make the most sense and the way that outsourcing to 3PL providers will be the most logical approach to extending their operations and improving supply chain performance.