Air Freight

Air freight is the fastest way to move goods over long distances, with typical transit times of one to three days for domestic shipments and two to five days internationally. It's used when the cost of delay – lost sales, production shutdowns, spoiled perishables, or contractual penalties – exceeds the premium price of air transport. Common air freight users include pharmaceutical companies, electronics manufacturers, perishable food shippers, and any business dealing with urgent replenishment or time-sensitive product launches.

Air freight pricing is based on chargeable weight – the greater of actual weight or dimensional weight (calculated from the shipment's volume). Rates are quoted per kilogram or per pound and vary dramatically by lane, season, fuel surcharges, and capacity availability. Unlike truckload, where you're buying a trailer, air freight charges are granular and commodity-sensitive. Accessorial charges for special handling, temperature control, dangerous goods, or customs brokerage can add significantly to the base rate.

For most shippers, air freight represents a small percentage of total volume but a disproportionate share of freight spend. Managing it well means having clear criteria for when air is justified versus expedited ground, and ensuring that air quotes are visible alongside surface options so the decision is deliberate rather than reactive. Shippers who default to air out of panic – because they lack visibility into other options – overspend consistently.

The shippers who manage air freight effectively treat it as one option in a multi-mode toolkit, comparing it against expedited ground, intermodal, and standard truck in a single quoting workflow rather than handling it as a separate, emergency-only process.