AMI brings four air cargo wholesale rate offices into Dallas HQ

US air freight wholesaler AMI has centralised its spot rates department at its US Dallas headquarters, replacing smaller operations in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta, the company announced.

The new department has four full-timers, headed by Cesar Fausto, who has relocated from Los Angeles. It is open from 8am -5pm (Eastern Standard Time), so meeting the requirements of customers anywhere throughout the US.

"Centralising this function makes better use of resources, enabling us to handle a larger volume of enquiries and provide faster feedback. It also means we can pool our business, leverage buying power and offer keener rates. It's win-win for customers and for us," said AMI vice president Peter Weir.

Air freight wholesaling is the process by which freight agents can purchase space through the intermediary wholesaler for lower rates than offered by the carrier.

In air freight, this is achieved either by the wholesaler consolidating many small shipments into a single booking, taking advantage of the lower rate per kilogramme offered by airlines for larger shipments, and then sharing the cost saving with customers.

It can also be achieved by combining dense cargo and volume cargo on the same airline pallet to maximise the chargeable capacity of the pallet without exceeding its physical weight limit.

Consolidated air freight shipments also benefit from lower minimum charges than those imposed by airlines. Normal airline minimum charges can often make a small shipment prohibitively expensive.