The Obstacle Factors and Optimization Path of the Operation Efficiency of Third-party Logistics Enterprises under the Background of Digital Intelligence Transformation

In 2025, China’s total social logistics volume hit 368.2 trillion yuan, with the ratio of total social logistics costs to GDP dropping below 14% for the first time. While the logistics industry has achieved phased success in cost reduction and efficiency improvement, traditional cost cutting approaches yield diminishing marginal returns. Besides, industry differentiation is increasingly prominent: leading enterprises have harvested fruits from digital transformation, yet most small and medium-sized third-party logistics (3PL) enterprises remain in exploratory transformation. Taking these SMEs as the research subject, this paper identifies four core barriers hindering operational efficiency during digital and intelligent upgrading: misalignment between technology adoption and business scenarios, data silos and poor system coordination, inadequate organizational capability and talent shortage, as well as mismatched resource input and expected returns. These barriers interact with each other and create a self-reinforcing vicious cycle: inefficient investment further reduces enterprises’ willingness to invest. Accordingly, this study proposes three optimization paths, including lightweight deployment priority, scenario-driven implementation and progressive iteration. The findings can provide theoretical support for the digital transformation of small and medium-sized 3PL enterprises.