Approved Freight Forwarders
Helpful Articles

  The plans are finished, the sconces for the hallways are chosen, and the handles on the nightstands match the curve of the headboard. But how are you going to get your carefully curated furniture, fixtures, and equipment to the job site? Where are you going to store it? By including an FF&E Freight Provider in planning from the start, you can ensure your projects are a success. 1. Tour Your Prospective Provider’s Facility If you are looking for a provider, most are going to say they have the space to accommodate your project. Some will do anything to close the deal – including making...

What is the Balikbayan Box Phenomenon? With today’s order-online approach to gift-giving, you can send a gift to someone without ever seeing the product itself. It can seem a bit impersonal. Not so with the tradition of the balikbayan box. In Tagalog, one of the main languages of the Philippines, “balikbayan” means returning to one’s country. For millions of Filipinos living and working around the world, shipping a balikbayan box to family back home is a way of returning there in spirit.   What is a balikbayan box? It’s a large, easy-to-assemble and sturdy cardboard box filled with all sorts of items destined for loved...

Often overlooked, the question of how a product is going to reach customers is very important. This type of oversight can quickly turn a carefully designed product into a logistics nightmare. Your team will be left scrambling to secure rates which won’t turn your revenue stream upside down. Fluctuations in fuel, shifts of demand in certain lanes, and changes to volume all play a part in altering shipping rates from day-to-day. There are many factors that play into cost, but ocean freight shippers have another variable to consider. That variable is the Ocean Freight General Rate Increase (GRI). Great supply chains are centered around one key piece...

Customers have set the bar high when it comes to responsiveness, especially in today’s competitive retail industry. Air freight shipping is the fastest way to get goods to their destination, but it can also be the most expensive. Air freight service providers like Approved Freight Forwarders can help you easily manage the demand for quick fulfillment and distribution processes while optimizing time and cost efficiencies.   Let’s look at five ways air freight can help retailers and other businesses facing similar challenges 1) Fast delivery of time-sensitive cargo Air freight gives you flexibility Air cargo service minimizes unforeseen obstacles and delays. It is ideal for...

Not everyone in the logistics industry works in the warehouse. Many of us aren’t constantly lifting boxes, hopping on and off forklifts, and stretching around to wrap, tie and secure product. Most logistics professionals are in the office. While we may have the benefit of year round climate control, our bodies miss out on important exercise at work, which can leave us feeling stressed and worn down. If you are like the Approved ‘Ohana, you’re constantly looking for ways to improve your health, and balance a healthy lifestyle with a rigorous work schedule. But we also don’t want to be that person in the office,...

Approved is always looking for ways to improve and provide better service to our customers. Troy Plotkin, Director of Operations, is leading the way with a number of new initiatives. Troy joined the Approved family, or ‘Ohana, in 2015. The company was growing and management recognized the need for change. As Troy puts it, “We put new miles on the bus but never took the old ones off. We needed to capitalize on what we had.” By taking full advantage of our systems’ features, Approved has improved visibility, consistency and predictability. “Especially for smaller customers, costs are key. We need to offer competitive pricing.” “We...