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A 100-day data plan for a newly acquired 3PL or distributor
By SourceX Editorial · Updated
Short answer
A 100-day data plan for a newly acquired 3PL or distributor runs in three phases: secure admin access and stop automatic deletions by day 30, inventory WMS, TMS, ERP and EDI records by day 60, then settle rights and sort records into live, archive or licensing screen by day 100. Access comes first because deleted history cannot be rebuilt.
Key takeaways
- Admin access to the WMS, TMS, ERP, EDI provider and telematics accounts belongs in the first phase, not after integration planning.
- Check retention settings in every system early, because a shortened setting can delete inspection, driver or ticket history permanently.
- Inventory record families and how they link, such as order to shipment to exception to claim, rather than listing systems alone.
- Customer, carrier and trading partner agreements decide which records the company controls, so read them before any archive or licensing decision.
- Screen for licensing only after access, inventory and rights are settled, using metadata rather than files.
What does a 100-day data plan cover at a 3PL or distributor?#
A 100-day data plan covers five workstreams at a newly acquired 3PL or distributor: access, inventory, rights, archive and opportunities. The plan runs alongside the IT integration plan but asks a different question: which records exist, who controls them, and what must survive the system changes the deal thesis calls for.
Distribution and logistics businesses spread their history across more systems than most acquirers expect. Orders live in the ERP, picks and putaways in the WMS, loads and carrier tenders in the TMS, partner documents with an EDI provider, and driver and vehicle events in a telematics platform. Many also track pricing overrides and service exceptions in spreadsheets on a shared drive.
- Access: admin credentials, owner accounts and contract notices for every system that holds records.
- Inventory: record families, date coverage, export routes and how records link to each other.
- Rights: customer, carrier, vendor and trading partner terms that limit how records may be used.
- Archive: what stays live, what moves to read-only storage and what follows the retention schedule.
- Opportunities: which record families deserve a metadata-only screen for licensing or internal AI use.
Days 1 to 30: secure access and stop the deletion clock#
The first 30 days of a data plan are about control: the new owner must be able to reach every system, and nothing should delete history while the integration team is busy elsewhere. Founder-led distributors often have a single owner account tied to a departing executive, or an outside reseller who holds the only administrator login for the ERP.
Retention settings deserve a line on the day-one checklist. Telematics platforms, help desks and chat tools let administrators shorten how long records are kept. Samsara's help center, for example, says DVIR data can be kept for as long as the company is a customer or for three or six months, and hours-of-service logs for as long as the company is a customer or six months. Samsara also says data outside the chosen period is purged nightly and cannot be recovered by the customer or Samsara, so check the setting before anyone shortens it.
Regulatory minimums are not a ceiling. FMCSA guidance says motor carriers must keep each driver's records of duty status and supporting documents for six months, which sets a compliance floor, not a reason to discard older records the business may still need.
- List every system and its administrator, including resellers, managed service providers and the EDI provider.
- Move owner and admin accounts to company-controlled identities before any key employee departs.
- Record each system's retention and deletion settings and pause automated deletion where policy allows.
- Find renewal and cancellation dates so no subscription lapses during integration.
- Confirm that backups of any on-premises ERP or WMS database restore to a readable state.
- 01Your work records
- 02Personal details removed
- 03You approve the release
- 04Licensed to AI developers
Days 31 to 60: inventory the record families and how they link#
A record inventory for a 3PL or distributor lists record families, not just systems, and notes how each family links to the next. The links carry most of the operational knowledge: an order tied to its pick, shipment, carrier event, exception and claim shows how the business actually resolves problems.
Ask the operations and finance leads, not only IT, to fill in the inventory. They know which exception codes are used consistently, which notes fields hold real explanations, and which years were lost in a past migration.
| Record family | Typical system | Links to | Check before relying on it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales orders and order lines | ERP such as NetSuite, Epicor, Infor or Acumatica | Customers, items, shipments, invoices | Whether closed orders from before the last migration survived |
| Picks, putaways and cycle counts | WMS | Orders, locations, inventory adjustments | Whether adjustments carry reason codes |
| Loads, tenders and carrier events | TMS such as McLeod | Orders, carriers, freight bills | Whether carrier events are stored or only displayed |
| EDI documents | EDI provider or VAN mailbox | Purchase orders, ship notices, invoices | How long the provider keeps document history |
| Service exceptions and claims | ERP cases, TMS notes or spreadsheets | Orders, shipments, credits | Whether resolutions are written down |
| Driver and vehicle events | Telematics such as Samsara | Loads, drivers, inspections | Retention settings and driver notices |
Days 61 to 100: settle rights, then sort every record family#
Rights work in the final phase decides which records the acquired company can use beyond running its own operations. A 3PL handles goods, orders and shipment data on behalf of customers, so its customer agreements often treat that data as the customer's confidential information. A distributor's own sales history is usually more clearly company-owned, but manufacturer rebate programs and supply agreements can add reporting duties or limits.
Read carrier agreements, EDI trading partner agreements and software vendor terms in the same pass. Then sort each record family into one of four outcomes, so the integration team knows what to migrate and what to preserve before old systems are switched off.
| Outcome | Typical record families | Decision rule |
|---|---|---|
| Keep live | Open orders, active customers, current inventory, open claims | Needed to run the business after cutover |
| Archive read-only | Closed orders, historical freight bills, prior-year EDI documents | Needed for tax, disputes or reference but not daily work |
| Screen for licensing | Exceptions with resolutions, claims history, routing and dispatch notes | Company-controlled, linked to outcomes and clear of customer restrictions |
| Delete on schedule | Records past retention with no hold or business use | Retention schedule allows it and no legal hold applies |
Illustrative: a regional 3PL in its first 100 days#
Illustrative: a fictional sponsor acquires a regional 3PL with three warehouses, a dedicated fleet and a small freight brokerage desk. The company runs a WMS, McLeod for brokerage loads, Samsara on its trucks and NetSuite for finance. The founder's assistant holds the only NetSuite administrator login, and an outside contractor manages the WMS server.
In the first phase the operating partner moves admin access to company identities and finds that a previous IT contractor shortened inspection retention in the telematics account. The setting is lengthened at once, although inspections already purged under the shorter setting are gone for good. In the second phase the inventory shows that WMS exception notes link to customer credits in NetSuite across several years, while brokerage history from before a TMS upgrade exists only in a database backup.
In the final phase counsel reads the largest customer agreements and finds that two treat shipment data as the customer's confidential information, so those customers' records are carved out. The board approves restoring the old backup into a readable archive and putting the remaining exception and claims history through a metadata-only fit check after the WMS cutover.
Which mistakes cost a new owner the most history?#
The costliest mistake is cancelling a system before its history is exported in a usable form. Distribution businesses often retire a legacy WMS or TMS early to cut license fees, and the archive left behind is a database backup that no one can open without the original software.
- Letting the seller's IT contractor keep the only admin credentials after the transition period ends.
- Migrating open transactions and assuming closed history can be pulled later.
- Ignoring the EDI provider, whose document history may sit outside every internal system.
- Treating spreadsheets of exceptions and pricing overrides as personal files rather than company records.
- Promising the board a licensing outcome before rights and records are known.
How SourceX fits into a 100-day plan#
SourceX enters a 100-day plan at the opportunities step, after access and the inventory are in hand. The fit check uses metadata only, such as system names, record families, date coverage and known restrictions, so no files leave the company during the initial assessment.
A record family that proceeds moves through the SourceX five-step transaction: Supply, Rights, Preparation, Approval and Delivery. The rights work from the plan feeds the licensing rights and permitted use sections of the SourceX Evidence Packet, and large archives stay in the company's own storage rather than being hosted by SourceX.
Frequently asked questions
Who should own the 100-day data plan?
The operating partner usually sponsors it, and the acquired company's COO or controller owns the work. IT handles access and exports, operations leads explain how records link, and counsel reads customer and carrier agreements. One named owner keeps the plan from dissolving into the wider integration workstream.
What if the seller still runs some systems under a transition services agreement?
Write data obligations into the transition services agreement: full exports in agreed formats, retention settings left unchanged, admin access handed over before the agreement ends, and cooperation with any legal hold. Exports requested after the agreement expires are much harder to obtain.
Does the plan change if the business is folding into a platform's systems?
The phases stay the same, but the archive step becomes urgent. When the add-on's ERP, WMS or TMS is scheduled for shutdown, closed history and its links must be exported and verified before cutover, because the platform's system usually receives only open transactions and master data.
Should driver and telematics data be part of any license?
It needs the most care of any record family. Driver events, locations and camera footage involve personal data, and employee notice and monitoring rules may apply. Most plans keep this data for operations and compliance and consider only de-identified operational records for outside use, after review with counsel.
How is a data plan different from an IT integration plan?
An IT integration plan moves users, systems and transactions onto the target architecture. A data plan protects the history those systems hold, records who controls it, and decides what is preserved, archived or deleted. The two share a timeline and should share a decision log.
Sources
- Samsara's retention settings let DVIR data be kept as long as you are a customer or for 3 months (92 days) or 6 months (184 days). HOS logs and violation reports can be kept as long as you are a customer or for 6 months (184 days). Source
- Samsara says data outside the chosen retention period is purged every night at 12am UTC and, once deleted, is permanently removed from Samsara systems and cannot be recovered by the customer or Samsara. Source
- FMCSA guidance says that under 49 CFR 395.8(k)(1) a motor carrier must keep each driver's records of duty status and all supporting documents for six months from the date of receipt. Source
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