Third-party logistics service provider (3PL) States Logistics prides itself on being a people-first company. But a challenging warehouse labor market was making it difficult for company leaders to find, retain, and develop front-line workers at some of its locations across Arizona and California just a few years ago. That all changed when the 3PL partnered with TrailPath Workplace Solutions, a workplace and people development company whose technology platform “transforms workplace dynamics, increases visibility, and helps both people and organizations thrive,” according to TrailPath.

States Logistics has reduced turnover at key locations and reports improved employee morale since implementing the platform, which provides visibility, training, and worker engagement tools that help companies improve decision-making and foster a better team environment.

ASSESSING PROBLEMS

States Logistics was experiencing higher than desired turnover at some of its locations and sought a “differentiated approach that could really help it stand out as an employer of choice,” according to TrailPath’s chief operating officer, Ben Green, and his colleague, Chief Knowledge Officer Clint McCrystal. They said the first step to addressing the problem was to assess the 3PL’s employment environment as a way to find opportunities to improve.

“[States Logistics’] biggest issue was turnover,” explains Green, noting that the 3PL was fighting a tough labor market in Southern California, in particular. Although the employee-owned 3PL was doing everything it could to address those challenges—including offering flexible scheduling and competitive pay to attract and keep front-line personnel—nothing seemed to work. And the high turnover was making it difficult for the company to continuously improve operations.

TrailPath began with an overall assessment of States Logistics’ workplace culture and operations in 2023 and implemented a pilot program the following year at one of the 3PL’s warehouses. The pilot combined the company’s NxtPath technology platform with leadership and coaching development to improve the facility’s workplace culture.

Creating a meaningful work environment is at the heart of those efforts.

“For us, [it’s all about] creating dignity, trust, and respect in the workplace,” McCrystal says.

TrailPath uses a “declining to thriving” model to measure worker engagement, satisfaction, and performance. Employees can express how they feel about their job within the NxtPath system by reporting whether they are “declining, surviving, growing, or thriving.” The real-time data-driven system alerts leaders to any changes in the metrics, allowing them to check in with workers and address problems and concerns if scores decline. The system also calculates and tracks an overall score for the workplace.

Progressing along the index requires building “meaningful employment environments,” where “trust and dignity [are] established and the work is meaningful,” according to TrailPath. When team members are “thriving,” productivity increases, turnover declines, commitment increases, safety improves, and people grow, according to Green and McCrystal.

ACHIEVING RESULTS

Today, States Logistics is growing and thriving: Within six months of implementing the technology and training, the pilot site saw a turnover reduction of 12%, according to Green. The 3PL has since added sites to the program and has reduced turnover between 5% and 15% per site.

What’s more, the 3PL has improved along the “declining to thriving” index at those facilities where the system is being used: The pilot site’s overall “growing or thriving” score rose from 60% to 83% from 2023 to 2025, exceeding the company average by a significant margin, according to Andrew Hillier, TrailPath’s business development manager.

In a statement to DC Velocity, Hillier said that accomplishment is “massively impactful in practice because each converted employee adds trust, reliability, and predictability to the operation.”

States Logistics continues to add sites to the NxtPath platform. As of late February, Green said the partners were about two-thirds of the way through the rollout and expected to be up and running in all eight of the 3PL’s locations this spring. The partners plan to integrate the company’s fleet of drivers into the program as well.

And it’s all in the name of becoming a place where people want to work.

“For a small, privately held company like States, hanging on to your employees is everything from a livelihood perspective,” McCrystal says. **please pull terminator to the right. Thanks!