Trucking Freight

Transit shed operators provide a transit handling service for airlines and sometimes forwarders. Their function is to receive cargo from the aircraft, de-palletise and deliver to truck or vice versa via a transit shed where customs clearance is required.  Specialized air trucking companies, like guaranteed air freight, provide road transport between the UK regions and the London airports, or continental airports, as well as intra-European services, where trucks substitute for aircraft, usually to a schedule. Most companies work on behalf of the airlines in servicing the forwarders requirements.  Express operators provide services for the movement of mail and small packages, where the timescales for transit are measured in hours by contrast to air forwarders whose service transit times are generally managed in days, like next day air freight.

General sales agents sale next day air freight and second day air freight and are appointed by some airlines (both scheduled and charter) to sell air freight capacity on their behalf, thereby allowing the airlines to avoid the potentially high fixed costs of sales and marketing.

Integrators provide a door-to-door service, usually using their own road transport, handling, transit warehousing facilities and aircraft. Normally integrators contract directly with the shipper. They started principally as express operators, but are now competing more directly with freight forwarders and the airlines.

Air freight forwarders provide a service to shippers and importers which originally involved receiving a consignment of freight from a shipper, arranging its routing, transportation handling and documentation to either the final receiver or to a foreign airport. The role of the forwarders has developed over the years with the largest forwarders describing themselves as logistics providers, like DB Schenker.

The next day air freight industry consists of a number of different commercial organizations who provide shippers with through freight services. These organizations, mainly within the private sector, operate in a highly competitive environment.

Airports act as landlords and infrastructure providers charging landing fees and stand rentals or parking fees to airlines (their main customers) and charging rent to service companies for passenger reception terminals, retail and catering outlets offices, cargo transit sheds, air craft maintenance work shops etc.

Airlines are the suppliers of air cargo capacity into and out of the US are either scheduled operators, charter operators, freighter operators or integrated carriers. Scheduled operators provide air cargo capacity principally in the belly holds of passenger or combo aircraft, though some also operate freight only capacity. Charter operators like BAX Global operating on holiday routes also offer freight capacity, which in line with their passenger business is seasonal. Freighter operators are the operators of freight only aircraft. Integrated carriers operate their own aircraft (and use belly hold capacity) to carry their own cargo, as part of a door-to-door express service for shippers and importers of goods.