A domestic freight forwarder ensures the safe, reliable, and efficient movement of goods within the borders of North America. They understand the challenges of shipping within such a large and diverse area. With the right expertise and experience, they get goods to where they need to go, smoothly and swiftly.
According to the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA), a domestic freight forwarder is responsible for shipping arrangements within the same country. They handle jobs like coordinating transport logistics, ensuring regulatory compliance, and handling documentation. Professional forwarders make deliveries efficient and punctual.
Find out how a domestic forwarding service can keep your goods moving after they’ve arrived from overseas or from across the border.
A reliable domestic freight forwarder is necessary when you need to move goods within the country. Expanded eCommerce and logistics services make it possible for shipping to go to anyone’s front door. In a country as large as the United States, the importance of a domestic freight forwarder is also on the rise.
A forwarder can take care of various details for businesses with shipping needs:
Working with a forwarder who already has a clear understanding of these items, means you don’t need to dedicate someone on your staff to coordinate shipping. Get help with freight trucking services, rail cargo arrangements, and even domestic air freight.
The domestic freight forwarding industry in the U.S. has boomed over the past decade. As more products come in from overseas, the need for trucks and railways has gone up.
The growth is due to many factors:
Domestic shipping has always been around, but was dominated by a few major parcel carriers. Major online retailers, such as Amazon, have revolutionized the shipping industry just with the wide variety of things that can be ordered.
Consider of the following trends in domestic logistics:
How do all these goods get moved around? It’s been made possible with domestic freight forwarding services that know how to best navigate the various transport systems available.
Thankfully, there are a wide range of shipping options available, known as multimodal shipping. To meet customer demands, many shipping combinations are used. As solutions become more complex, the services of a forwarder become more necessary.
If you thought arranging a single truckload from one point to another was challenging, prepare for the next step. Multimodal transportation solutions combine different modes of transport (like truck, rail, and air) to get a job done.
A domestic forwarder is the best solution for organizing deliveries that might need to travel in different ways.
In recent years, many businesses have turned to multimodal solutions to optimize their supply chains. As a result, the demand for freight forwarders, who can effectively manage these complex logistics operations, has increased.
| Transport Mode | Total Value (2017) | Percentage Growth |
| Single Mode | $11.7 trillion | 24.2% |
| Multimodal | $2.1 trillion | 48.8% |
While single mode transports, especially trucks, remain the top way to ship goods around the country, the growth of multimodal use far outpaces it.
Within multimodal transports, some combinations are growing faster than others. Even methods such as barge shipping along rivers and other internal waterways like the Great Lakes, has been increasing.
| Shipping Combination | Percentage Growth |
| Truck & Rail | 85.9% |
| Truck & Water | 330.6% |
| Rail & Water | 214.1% |
Whatever combination it takes to get freight where it needs to be, a domestic freight forwarder can make it happen.
USA Freight Forwarding Services offers a wide variety of options to clients for shipping modes, including international arrangements for importers and exporters.
While air cargo has its place in domestic shipping, it’s more popular as an international option. Ground freight forwarding is the real key player in domestic logistics.
It includes anything that doesn’t involve flight:
Leveraging the different modes and shipping combinations can help companies get goods shipped almost anywhere. From towns and cities along the Great Lakes to bustling city centers, no client is out of reach.
Even without the presence of international freight regulations, shipping in the U.S. isn’t a straight forward process. Depending on the destination or the commodity, there are still a number of laws and regulations that come into play.
Let’s consider some of the biggest obstacles to domestic shipping and how a freight forwarder helps.
If a company needs to ship products that are oversized or classified as hazardous materials, they need to account for different regulations based on each state they travel through.
Working with a forwarder familiar with your industry ensures that your shipment is arranged so that it meets the standards in every state it passes through. Important documents are handled professionally, and your shipment stays safe.
For goods coming in through major ports, there is still a need to transfer goods to local retailers or distribution warehouses. Not every ocean freight service has supporting partners on land.
Domestic freight services can arrange for goods to be moved from ports through drayage or transload. A forwarder can then work with your company to make sure those same goods are sent to their final destinations.
For many small to medium businesses, shipping a full truckload isn’t reasonable. When arranging shipments in-house, these are often the only options available.
By working with a domestic ground forwarder, a business gains access to options like Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) shipping. These allow for smaller shipments to go out. A forwarder can also coordinate with a warehouse facility to help businesses consolidate shipments for efficiency.
When these things are handled by logistics professionals, your company can focus on what it does best. Streamlined services will be fewer errors and cost savings in the long-run.
Ever since the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) went into effect, most trade restrictions between the three countries were lifted. Fewer restrictions mean goods are now going in and out more than ever before.
While these are international shipments, freight forwarding services that serve all of North America are in a position to smooth things out.
A freight forwarder with presence in all three nations can help with many cross-border needs, such as:
With the right forwarder, your business can bring in new goods and take advantage of new markets. The USMCA opened up trade for imports and exports to expand.
| Country and Year | Exports Value | Imports Value |
| Canada (2020) | $255 billion | $270 billion |
| Canada (2021) | $307 billion | $357 billion |
| Mexico (2020) | $212 billion | $325 billion |
| Mexico (2021) | $276 billion | $384 billion |
By simplifying the complex and handling the unexpected, freight forwarders play a critical role in successful cross-border trade. Your contribution to the global economy might only be a train ride away.
Choosing the right domestic freight forwarding service can be the difference between seamless logistics and a chain of disruptive issues.
When working without a freight forwarder or with an inexperienced one, mistakes can easily happen.
Rather than risk damaging your business, find a forwarder you can rely on. We’ll look into the main things to consider when selecting domestic freight forwarder and provide a checklist to evaluate their services.
Modern supply chains are more complex than ever. It’s one of the main forces driving the current forwarding industry. Businesses are bigger, inventories are more complex, and people are more demanding.
For a business to stand out, they need to make sure they have products on hand for every part of their operation. The easiest way to do this is to leave shipping in the hands of experts.
When looking into different forwarding companies, consider the following:
To break down this process even further, our next section will provide an overall checklist that businesses can use when evaluating domestic freight forwarding services.
Knowing what the key factors are is important, but a simple checklist can help you narrow down your options faster.
Use the following questions to see if the domestic forwarder you’re considering meets your company needs:
When you can respond positively to these questions, you’re on the right path to successful shipping. Contracting with a forwarder is an investment, one that could have far-reaching consequences.
At USA Freight Forwarding Services, we want to make sure that clients never regret a contract. International or domestic, our goal is to help your business thrive.
Avoiding issues with your domestic and international shipments starts with hiring the right help. Working with a qualified domestic freight forwarder gives you access to expertise that elevates your business.
With USA Freight Forwarding Services, you’ll work with industry leaders that have decades of experience dealing with permit arrangements and international guidelines.
Complete a contact request form today and take the first step to simplifying your domestic freight needs. Already know your shipping specifics? Get a risk-free quote today or call us directly at (866) 941-8081.
