Freight Insights
Industry news, guides, and best practices from the CargoLinked team.
TIR Carnet Explained: International Road Transit Under Seal
A TIR carnet and an ATA carnet get confused constantly, and the difference matters: one covers goods passing through customs territory under seal on their way to a final destination, the other covers goods that will leave again unchanged. Only one of them is meant for permanent imports.
Peak Season 2026 Wasn’t Over When Everyone Said It Was
On 3 August, this publication covered an early 2026 peak season expected to fade by autumn. Six weeks later, the National Retail Federation reversed its own forecast, ports posted their busiest summer on record, and ocean rates climbed instead of easing. Here is what actually happened.
Freight Market Update, September 2026: A Sharper Gulf, a Longer Peak
Six weeks ago we covered a Gulf crisis pushing traffic around the Cape and an early peak season expected to fade. Neither read holds up unchanged. The Gulf situation has escalated further, and peak season did not fade, it got a second, larger wave nobody forecast a month ago.
Freight Forwarder KPIs: Measuring Your Own Operation
Most articles about freight forwarder KPIs quote a benchmark percentage as if it were settled fact. Checked against named sources, almost none of those numbers exist. Here are the metrics actually worth tracking, and what to do when there is no industry average to compare yourself against.
Empty Container Return: Avoiding Detention When a Terminal Refuses It
A container returned late because the designated terminal simply would not accept it is the single most common way a legitimate detention dispute arises, and the rule that governs it has now been tested in court. Here is how the return leg actually works, and what to do when the door is closed.
Tariff-Rate Quotas Explained: TRQs and Your Duty Bill
A tariff-rate quota is not a quota in the sense most people mean. Nothing is barred from entering. What changes is the duty rate, and getting the timing wrong on a time-sensitive commodity can mean paying substantially more than you planned.
Oversize Load Permits and Pilot Cars Explained
There is no national oversize load permit in the United States. Every state sets its own dimension thresholds, its own escort requirements, and its own process, and a coast-to-coast heavy haul means a separate application to nearly every one of them. Here is how the system actually works.
Freight Factoring for Forwarders: How It Actually Works
Factoring turns an unpaid invoice into cash today, and it is approved on your customer's credit, not yours. What it costs is harder to pin down than the marketing suggests, because none of the major freight factors publish a binding rate. Here is how it actually works, and where a real fraud pattern is now intersecting with it.
Retail Vendor Compliance and Chargebacks for Forwarders
A shipper delivering to a major retailer is bound by a routing guide the forwarder never sees: approved carriers, appointment windows, label formats and advance ship notices. Miss one and a chargeback lands on the shipper, not the truck that caused it. Here is how the system works and how a forwarder stays out of it.
Pro Forma Invoice in International Trade Explained
A pro forma invoice looks like an invoice but is legally a quotation, and that distinction matters at three separate points: customs entry, a letter of credit, and getting paid. Here is what CBP actually requires when the real invoice is not ready yet, and where treating the two documents as interchangeable causes real delay.
LTL Freight Class and NMFC Explained
Freight class decides what an LTL shipment costs, and it is set by a private industry standard, not a government rule. Since July 2025 most commodities are classed by measured density rather than a fixed lookup, and the system is still being rewritten: a public comment period on the next round of changes closes in days.