With an array of distribution centers spread out over nearly 20 states across the Great Plains and into the American South, the Midwestern United States has long posed unique opportunities and challenges for shippers and forwarders. Now, a fundamental change in domestic shipping is pushing into the international transport arena and having an impact on shipping strategies spreading across oceans.
Industry observers say the improvements in trucking services that are pulling shipments from domestic air market are raising new possibilities for international trade. It means once-specialized road feeder services are offering expedited trucking from both coasts as well as between the United States and Canada and Mexico, providing links to broader global supply chains. For airports, airlines and forwarders looking for new business, that means the search increasingly begins on the road. It's one reason, experts say, a growing number of Asian and European airlines are flying freighters past the traditional gateways on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, landing instead at such cities as Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Chicago and Nashville, Tenn., where efficient trucking services increasingly are connecting to a wide swath of markets for both imports and exports.
Source: Air Cargo World, http://www.aircargoworld.com