The United States is the world’s largest importer, and its freight market is correspondingly crowded — tens of thousands of companies call themselves freight forwarders, and the barrier to putting up a website is close to zero. In most countries the hard part is finding a forwarder at all; in the US it is telling a licensed, bonded operator apart from a broker with a laptop who will hand your cargo to someone you never chose.
At IFN we connect businesses with vetted, independent freight forwarders worldwide through our global freight network. Our premium US members are listed first below — followed by the ports, customs and licensing detail you need to brief them properly.
IFN member freight forwarders in the USA
Cold-searching for a US forwarder means trusting a website in a market where anyone can build one. Working through a freight network means working with companies screened before admission — for operating history, financial standing and reputation — and that have something to lose by underperforming.
IFN spans 93+ countries. Members are individually vetted, covered by our cargo payment protection programme against non-payment and insolvency, and they meet face to face each year at IFN Global Connect.
Our five US members cluster around the three gateway regions that handle most American international trade: the New York/New Jersey complex on the East Coast, Texas for the southern corridor and Gulf, and South Florida, the acknowledged gateway to Latin America.
At a glance
| Company | Location | Established | Size | IFN status |
| AllPoints Unlimited Inc. | Valley Stream, New York | — | 11–50 | Founder Member |
| Transworld Cargo | Hicksville, New York | 2011 | 11–50 | Member — 4 branches |
| ISL International | Dallas, Texas | 2018 | 1–10 | Founder Member |
| AWATAC USA Inc | McKinney, Texas | 2022 | 11–50 | Founder Member |
| Segaduanca USA Corp | Doral, Florida | 1994 | 1–10 | Founder Member — 2 branches |
All five carry active cargo payment protection.
New York metro — the East Coast gateway
The Port of New York and New Jersey is the largest container gateway on the East Coast and the primary entry point for European and Indian-subcontinent cargo, backed by JFK for airfreight. Two of our members are here.
AllPoints Unlimited Inc.
- Location: 181 S. Franklin Ave., Suite 103, Valley Stream, NY 11581
- Company size: 11–50 employees
- Website: allpointsunlimited.com
- IFN status: Founder Member
- Cargo payment protection: Active
- Services: air freight, sea freight, LCL, dangerous goods, warehousing, customs clearance, plus project and specialist handling categories
- Notable: president-led operation minutes from JFK — useful for time-critical airfreight and consolidations
Valley Stream sits on the Nassau County line, effectively adjacent to the JFK air cargo complex and within easy reach of the New Jersey terminals. For an inbound shipper who needs someone physically able to attend a warehouse or a CFS at short notice, that location is doing real work.
Transworld Cargo
- Location: 183 Broadway, Suite 310, Hicksville, NY
- Established: 2011
- Company size: 11–50 employees
- Branches: 4
- Website: twcargo.com
- Cargo payment protection: Active
- Services: air, sea, LCL, dangerous goods, warehousing, trucking
- Notable: the largest branch network of our US members
Transworld operates four branches from a Long Island base, giving it more physical coverage than the single-office model most mid-sized US forwarders run. CEO-led, with the full ocean and air service range.
Texas — the southern corridor
Texas combines the Gulf ports of Houston and Galveston with the Dallas–Fort Worth inland hub and the busiest land border crossings in North America. It is the natural base for Mexico cross-border, energy and project cargo. Two of our members operate here.
ISL International
- Location: 2600 Lake Ridge Rd #2223, Dallas, TX 75056
- Established: 2018
- Company size: 1–10 employees
- Website: islinternational.us
- IFN status: Founder Member
- Cargo payment protection: Active
- Services: the complete declared range — all 14 service categories, including rail, time-critical and project handling
ISL International declares the widest service scope of any of our US members, covering every category in the network taxonomy. CEO-led and compact, based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex — the largest inland intermodal hub in the southern US and a major rail interchange for containers moving from the West Coast and Gulf.
AWATAC USA Inc
- Location: 8751 Collin McKinney Pkwy, Suite 601, McKinney, TX 75070
- Established: 2022
- Company size: 11–50 employees
- Website: awatacgroup.com
- IFN status: Founder Member
- Cargo payment protection: Active
- Services: air freight, sea freight, dangerous goods, warehousing, trucking, project and specialist categories
- Notable: the US arm of an international group — relevant if you want a single counterparty across multiple countries
AWATAC USA is the American entity of the wider AWATAC group, operating from McKinney in the northern Dallas suburbs. For shippers who prefer one commercial relationship spanning several markets rather than a chain of separate agents, a group structure with a US presence is a distinct proposition.
South Florida — the Latin America gateway
Segaduanca USA Corp
- Location: 2000 NW 89th Place, Suite 101, Doral, Florida 33172
- Established: 1994 — the longest verified operating history of our US members
- Company size: 1–10 employees
- Branches: 2
- Website: segaduancausa.com
- IFN status: Founder Member
- Cargo payment protection: Active
- Services: near-complete range — air, sea, LCL, dangerous goods, warehousing, trucking, rail, customs clearance, project and time-critical
Doral is the heart of the Miami trade district and the single most concentrated cluster of Latin America-facing forwarders in the United States — within reach of PortMiami, Port Everglades and Miami International Airport, the busiest US airport for international freight. With three decades of history and a Spanish-language operating base, Segaduanca is the obvious starting point for anyone moving cargo between the US and Latin America.
Which member fits your shipment?
| If you need… | Consider |
| East Coast ocean via New York/New Jersey | AllPoints Unlimited or Transworld Cargo |
| JFK airfreight and time-critical consolidations | AllPoints Unlimited |
| A multi-branch US footprint | Transworld Cargo |
| Gulf ports, Texas or Mexico cross-border | ISL International or AWATAC USA |
| Dallas–Fort Worth inland intermodal and rail | ISL International |
| One counterparty across several countries | AWATAC USA |
| Latin America trade, Spanish-language operations | Segaduanca USA |
| Miami, Port Everglades or MIA airfreight | Segaduanca USA |
Not sure which fits, or shipping through a West Coast gateway none of them covers directly? Contact our team and we will point you to the right member. Become part of the innovative freight network to get full access to our freight forwarder member directory.
Before you brief any US forwarder, it is worth understanding the licensing distinctions that matter, how CBP clearance and the ISF deadline work, and what actually drives your landed cost. The rest of this guide covers exactly that.
The licensing distinction most shippers miss
This is the single most useful thing to understand about the US market, and it is where most bad experiences begin.
In the United States, three different things are casually called “freight forwarder”, and they are regulated separately:
| Entity | Regulator | What it actually is |
| Ocean Freight Forwarder (OFF) | Federal Maritime Commission | Arranges ocean transport on your behalf as your agent. Must hold an FMC OTI licence and a bond |
| NVOCC | Federal Maritime Commission | Acts as a carrier — issues its own bill of lading and takes on carrier liability. Also FMC-licensed and bonded |
| Customs Broker | US Customs and Border Protection | Licensed to file entries with CBP on your behalf. A separate licence entirely |
A company can hold all three. Many hold none and simply resell another company’s service. That is not automatically wrong — subcontracting is normal — but you need to know which entity is legally responsible for your cargo, and which one is filing your customs entry, because those are the parties you have recourse against.
Both FMC and CBP licences are publicly verifiable. You can check an OTI licence on the Federal Maritime Commission’s website and confirm a customs broker licence with CBP. A forwarder who is reluctant to give you their licence number is telling you something.
For the role explained from the ground up, see our complete guide to international freight forwarders.
What a freight forwarder in the USA handles
- Booking ocean, air, rail or truck capacity across a continental-scale domestic network
- ISF 10+2 filing — the Importer Security Filing, due 24 hours before lading at origin
- Customs entry through ACE — filed by a licensed customs broker into CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment
- Customs bond arrangement — single-entry or continuous
- Duty, tariff and trade-remedy classification — HTSUS classification plus any Section 301, Section 232 or other additional duties that apply
- Partner Government Agency clearance — FDA, USDA/APHIS, FCC, EPA, DOT and others, depending on the commodity
- Drayage, chassis and intermodal rail — the US-specific equipment chain that causes most inland delays
- Bonded warehousing, FTZ handling and deconsolidation
- Cargo insurance placement
The USA’s major ports and gateways
Seaports
| Port | Coast | Best for |
| Los Angeles / Long Beach | Pacific | The largest US gateway complex. Default for Asian imports; feeds transcontinental rail |
| New York / New Jersey | Atlantic | Largest East Coast gateway — Europe, India, Mediterranean; serves the Northeast consumer market |
| Savannah | Atlantic | Fast-growing Southeast hub with strong inland rail; often less congested than the majors |
| Houston | Gulf | Energy, petrochemicals, project cargo and Texas distribution |
| PortMiami / Port Everglades | Atlantic (Florida) | Latin America and Caribbean trades; reefer and consumer goods |
| Seattle / Tacoma | Pacific | Northwest gateway, transpacific and Alaska trades |
| Norfolk | Atlantic | Deep-water East Coast, strong rail connectivity |
| Charleston | Atlantic | Southeast manufacturing, automotive |
Air cargo gateways
| Airport | Location | Best for |
| Memphis (MEM) | Tennessee | Largest US cargo airport — integrator hub, express |
| Anchorage (ANC) | Alaska | Critical transpacific freighter refuelling and transfer point |
| Louisville (SDF) | Kentucky | Integrator hub, express and e-commerce |
| Chicago O’Hare (ORD) | Illinois | Largest international air cargo hub in the interior |
| Miami (MIA) | Florida | Busiest US airport for international freight — Latin America, perishables, flowers |
| JFK (JFK) | New York | Transatlantic, high-value, pharma |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | California | Transpacific, electronics, high-value |
The routing decision that matters: for Asian cargo, the choice between a West Coast port with transcontinental rail and an all-water service to the East Coast is a genuine trade-off, not a formality. West Coast plus rail is usually faster but exposes you to chassis shortages, rail dwell and drayage capacity. All-water to Savannah or New York takes longer but is a single continuous move with fewer handoffs. Ask your forwarder to price and time both, delivered to your door.
Indicative ocean transit times
| Origin | To Los Angeles | To New York |
| Shanghai / Ningbo | 14–22 days | 30–40 days |
| Shenzhen / Guangzhou | 15–23 days | 28–38 days |
| Singapore | 18–26 days | 28–38 days |
| Rotterdam / Hamburg | 30–40 days | 12–18 days |
| Genoa | 32–42 days | 16–24 days |
| Mumbai (Nhava Sheva) | 30–40 days | 22–30 days |
| Santos (Brazil) | 25–35 days | 14–22 days |
Indicative only. East Coast routings from Asia depend on Panama Canal transit conditions, which have been variable, and some services route via Suez instead. Always confirm the actual string and routing on your quote.
US customs: CBP, ISF and the deadlines that bite
ISF 10+2 — the 24-hour rule
For ocean imports, the Importer Security Filing must be transmitted to CBP at least 24 hours before the cargo is laden aboard the vessel at the foreign port. Not before arrival — before loading.
This is the most commonly missed requirement by first-time US importers, because it requires you to have supplier, manufacturer, consignee and container stuffing details assembled while the goods are still overseas. Late or inaccurate filings carry liquidated damages, and CBP can refuse to permit lading.
Practical takeaway: your forwarder needs the ISF data package from you and your supplier days before the sailing, not on the day. Build it into your purchase order process rather than treating it as a shipping formality.
What else you need in place
- Importer of Record — a US entity, or a foreign entity with a US customs bond and, in many cases, a resident agent. Foreign importers can be IOR but the requirements are stricter
- Customs bond — a single-entry bond per shipment, or a continuous bond covering twelve months. If you import more than roughly four or five times a year, a continuous bond is normally cheaper
- A licensed customs broker — filing entries into ACE on your behalf
- HTSUS classification — the 10-digit tariff code. It determines the base duty rate and whether trade-remedy duties apply
- Partner Government Agency compliance — FDA for food, drugs, cosmetics and devices; USDA/APHIS for agricultural and animal products; FCC for radio-frequency devices; EPA for engines, chemicals and vehicles; DOT for vehicles and parts
- Country of origin marking — goods must be legibly marked with the country of origin. Unmarked goods can be held or subject to additional duty
- ISPM 15 treated wood packaging
Prior Disclosure and reasonable care: US customs law puts the compliance burden on the importer, not the broker. “My broker classified it” is not a defence. This is why a forwarder who pushes back on your classification, rather than simply accepting what you give them, is worth more than one who does not.
What it costs — and where the surprises are
| Charge | What it is | Notes |
| Customs duty | HTSUS rate on customs value | Many goods are low or duty-free; rates vary widely by classification |
| Trade-remedy duties | Section 301, Section 232, antidumping/countervailing and other measures | Can dwarf the base rate. The US tariff landscape has shifted substantially since 2025 — verify current rates for your HTS code and origin before pricing any contract |
| Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) | Ad valorem fee with a floor and ceiling per entry | Applies to most formal entries |
| Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF) | Ad valorem on ocean imports | Ocean only |
| Customs bond | Single-entry or continuous | Continuous usually cheaper above ~4–5 entries per year |
| Brokerage and ISF filing fees | Per entry / per filing | Ask for the full schedule, including PGA line fees |
| Drayage and chassis | Port to warehouse trucking plus chassis rental | A major and volatile cost line |
| Demurrage and detention | Terminal storage and equipment charges | See below |
Demurrage and detention deserve their own paragraph. These charges have been a persistent flashpoint in the US, and the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 gave shippers real recourse: invoices must contain specific information, and charges that do not serve their intended purpose of incentivising cargo movement can be disputed with the Federal Maritime Commission.
Ask your forwarder directly: how many free days do I get, what is the daily rate, and will you dispute improper charges on my behalf? A forwarder who simply passes demurrage invoices through without reviewing them is costing you money.
Tariff volatility. US trade policy has moved significantly and repeatedly since 2025. Any duty figure you find in an article — including this one — should be treated as a prompt to verify, not as a number to budget against. Have your broker confirm the current rate for your specific HTS code and country of origin in writing before you commit to a landed price.
How to vet a freight forwarder in the USA
Whether you are speaking to one of the IFN members above or a forwarder you found elsewhere, ask these questions.
- “What is your FMC OTI licence number, and are you an ocean freight forwarder, an NVOCC, or both?” Verifiable in a public database. This is the fastest way to separate a licensed operator from a reseller.
- “Is your customs broker in-house and licensed, or do you subcontract?” Either is fine — but get the name and licence status, because that party carries the entry liability.
- “Are you CTPAT certified?” The Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism programme brings reduced examination rates and front-of-line inspection treatment. For regular importers this is a genuine operational advantage.
- “Who files my ISF, and what is your data cut-off before lading?” If they cannot state a clear deadline, they have not thought about it properly.
- “Should I have a continuous bond, and will you arrange it?” A forwarder who defaults you into single-entry bonds on repeat shipments is not optimising for you.
- “Do you review and dispute demurrage and detention invoices?” Under OSRA there is a real process. Ask whether they use it.
- “Which PGAs apply to my product, and do you file those declarations?” FDA, FCC and EPA requirements catch out importers of electronics, cosmetics and machinery constantly.
- “Quote me delivered to my door, including drayage and chassis.” Port-to-port rates hide the most volatile part of US landed cost.
- “Which network do you belong to?” IFN, WCA, FIATA. Network membership means a third party vetted them financially and there is a dispute mechanism. You can check ours in the IFN member directory.
Red flags: no FMC licence number offered, rates dramatically below market, reluctance to name the customs broker filing your entry, no cargo insurance option, drayage quoted as “to be confirmed”, or payment requested to a personal account.
Frequently asked questions
How long does US customs clearance take?
With a complete entry and no PGA involvement, cargo is frequently released on or before arrival — CBP allows entry filing in advance. Holds are what cause delays: a CBP exam, an FDA review, a manifest discrepancy or an ISF problem can add days to weeks. Exam costs are borne by the importer.
Do I need a US company to import into the USA?
Not strictly. A foreign entity can act as Importer of Record, but must obtain a CBP-assigned identification number and a customs bond, and will generally need a US-based resident agent for service of process. Many foreign suppliers instead ship to a US buyer or use an IOR service. Confirm in writing who is IOR, because that party carries the duty and compliance liability.
What is ISF 10+2 and when is it due?
It is the Importer Security Filing for ocean shipments: ten data elements from the importer and two from the carrier. It must be filed at least 24 hours before the goods are loaded onto the vessel at the origin port. Late or inaccurate filings can trigger liquidated damages and cargo holds.
Single-entry bond or continuous bond?
A single-entry bond covers one shipment. A continuous bond covers twelve months of entries and typically becomes the cheaper option at around four to five shipments a year. It also simplifies ISF, which requires bond coverage. If you import regularly, ask for a continuous bond.
Should I use a West Coast or East Coast port for Asian cargo?
West Coast plus transcontinental rail is usually faster in pure transit but adds handoffs — drayage, chassis, rail dwell — each of which can slip. All-water services to Savannah or New York take longer but move as one continuous leg. For inland destinations east of the Mississippi the comparison is genuinely close; get both priced door to door.
What is the difference between a freight forwarder and an NVOCC?
A freight forwarder acts as your agent, arranging transport on your behalf. An NVOCC acts as a carrier — it issues its own bill of lading and assumes carrier liability. Both are licensed by the Federal Maritime Commission. The distinction determines who you have a contract of carriage with, which matters a great deal if cargo is lost or damaged.
Do you have members on other trade lanes?
Yes — IFN covers 93+ countries. If you are moving cargo between the US and South America, see our guides to freight forwarders in Brazil and freight forwarders in Colombia, or simply contact our team with your origin and destination.
Are you a freight forwarder in the USA?
If your company provides freight forwarding or customs brokerage in the United States, IFN gives you a direct route to cargo referrals from vetted independent forwarders across 93+ countries — backed by payment protection and an annual conference where the relationships actually get built. US destination and origin coverage is one of the most requested capabilities in the network.
Review the full list of inclusions on our membership benefits page, compare options on our membership plans page, explore our member tools and resources, or read more on the frieght and logistics industry blog.
New to the sector? Start with how to become a freight forwarder.
Apply for IFN Membership