Air cargo containers, known in the industry as unit load devices, are how freight is packed into an aircraft. Their shapes and limits decide what can fly and how it must be packed. AirFreight.com arranges air freight and charter, with trucks at both ends.
SERVICES OVERVIEW
Shipping within tight time constraints? We put businesses at ease with urgent shipping solutions, including air charter, air freight, and hand carry options, available nationwide. And when air delivery services aren't the right solution, we also offer urgent trucking solutions for seamless ground transport.
Our understanding of global trade, global cargo routes, and air cargo schedules allows us to tailor each delivery to meet your needs. We're available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-round to support you when you need it most. We dispatch a vehicle sized to your freight to pick up your delivery as quickly as possible.
You'll work one-on-one with a single point of contact who will guide you through the shipping process from door to door. No matter the complexity of your shipment, we're here to provide personalized guidance. Explore our custom shipping solutions to choose the right option for you.
Move your cargo across the country, whether from a metro area or a remote location. We'll help you meet ultra-critical delivery deadlines with the right aircraft. Enjoy concierge-level customer service and complete shipment flexibility to get your delivery to its final destination with ease.
Learn More about Air charter
Meet your dependable air freight broker for custom air freight solutions. We offer routine assistance and utilize high-tech tracking systems to ensure every shipment arrives on schedule. Choose from next flight out (NFO), overnight, or economy (general freight), depending on your individual requirements.
When you have a highly sensitive or critical shipment, our hand carry service provides security and speed. This service is not typically available for larger freight, but it's ideal for time-sensitive or high-value items. It's also the perfect solution for rescuing a delayed shipment, ensuring it gets back on track and into the right hands as quickly as possible.
Learn More about Hand carry
When air delivery isn't the right fit for your shipment, our urgent trucking solutions might be the answer. We support your urgent ground shipping needs with expedited trucking options. Choose from sprinter vans, cargo vans, and trucks of all sizes, including tractor-trailers, to get your items where they need to be—fast.
Learn More about Urgent trucking
Shaped to fit the aircraft
ULDs are containers and pallets built for aircraft holds.
Air cargo containers are the units that freight is packed into before it is loaded onto an aircraft. The industry calls them unit load devices, or ULDs, a term that covers both enclosed containers and flat aircraft pallets with nets. They let airlines load many pieces of freight as one unit, which saves time and protects the freight on the ground and in the air.
ULDs are shaped to fit the curved holds and decks of aircraft, and each aircraft type takes specific units. That is why ocean shipping containers, which are rectangular steel boxes built for ships, trucks and trains, cannot be loaded onto aircraft. Air cargo containers are lighter and shaped to the aircraft instead.
AirFreight.com arranges air freight that travels in these units, from scheduled flights to charters, with trucks collecting and delivering it at each end.
The deck sets the limits
Lower deck units are smaller; freighters take bigger units.
Aircraft carry cargo on two levels. The lower deck is the hold beneath the cabin, found on both passenger aircraft and freighters. Lower deck containers are shaped to fit its curve, and they carry baggage, mail and cargo on passenger flights many times a day.
The main deck is the level where passengers sit on a passenger aircraft. On a freighter, the main deck is open for cargo, with a large door that takes bigger pallets and taller units. That makes freighters the choice for larger, heavier or taller freight that will not fit in a lower deck unit.
Which deck freight can travel on depends on its size and the aircraft on the route. AirFreight.com chooses flights with the deck space a shipment needs, or an air charter when scheduled flights cannot take it.
Most shippers never pack an air cargo container themselves. Freight is delivered to the airline's cargo terminal as loose pieces or palletized shipments, a step called tendering. Airline or ground handling staff then build up the ULDs, fitting freight from many shipments into containers or onto pallets, securing it with nets and straps and weighing each unit before it goes to the aircraft.
At the destination, the units are broken down in the cargo terminal, and each shipment is separated out for recovery by the consignee's truck. The shipper's job is to deliver freight that is well packed, labeled and accurately described, so it can be built up safely.
AirFreight.com handles the trucking that tenders freight before the cutoff and recovers it after the flight, so shippers do not deal with the terminal themselves.
Fit and packing decide the flight
Dimensions, stacking and packaging set which flights can take it.
Air cargo containers affect how freight should be prepared. Freight has to fit the units and doors of the aircraft on the route, so tall, long or oddly shaped pieces may only fit on freighters. Pallet height and footprint matter, and freight that can be stacked or tipped is easier to build into a unit than freight that cannot.
Packaging should protect the freight from being moved several times. Air freight is billed on chargeable weight, the higher of the actual weight and a volumetric weight based on dimensions, so packing compactly helps. Freight too large for any standard unit may need an air charter.
Sharing exact dimensions, weights and handling notes before booking avoids surprises at the terminal. AirFreight.com uses those details to choose a flight the shipment can actually travel on.
ULDs keep air cargo moving
From e-commerce parcels to machine parts, freight flies in units.
Air cargo containers keep many industries moving. E-commerce shipments are often consolidated into containers by the thousands, so many small parcels travel as a few units. Pharmaceutical companies rely on air freight for medicines and materials that need fast, careful handling.
Automotive and manufacturing companies fly urgent parts on pallets and in containers when a line needs them, and perishable goods such as seafood and flowers move quickly from producers to markets. Larger industrial equipment rides on main deck pallets on freighters or on a charter.
For the shipper, the result is the same: freight packed well and described accurately flies sooner. AirFreight.com arranges air freight for each of these industries and handles the trucking at both ends, so the freight reaches the terminal and the receiver on time.
A shipment goes right when one person owns it, the option fits and the updates are honest.
“I had a single point of contact assigned to our shipment that was fantastic on keeping me updated every step of the way.”
Pamela · TrustpilotWhen you call AirFreight.com, you reach a real person right away, and that same person owns your shipment from the first call to final delivery. You never have to explain it twice.
Your expeditor books it, follows it the whole way and is the person you call next time.
“I called up at 7:30 pm... one that was secured cancelled at the end of the day. Todd quoted three shipments on the spot... The last shipment was picked up at Midnight.”
Susan · TrustpilotEvery shipment is different, and the right solution is the one that actually fits. We arrange next flight out, scheduled air freight, same day hand carry, air charter and expedited ground across North America.
We match the shipment to the option it needs, so you never pay for capacity or speed you do not use.
“True to word. They did exactly what they said they would do.”
Dan · TrustpilotUrgent freight is stressful enough without wondering whether you have the full story. We give you the price before you commit, the timeline as it actually stands, and if something goes wrong, you hear it from us first.
That includes telling you when a truck will get there first.
Reliable, on-demand aircraft charter solutions—customized to move your freight faster, safer, and smarter.
View Charter Options
A small, single-engine aircraft with a large aft cargo door, designed for short- to medium-range travel. The PC-12 operates from small airfields and is known for safety and reliability.
A small, twin-engined turboprop aircraft for short- to medium-range deliveries. Capacity is limited, but its size and versatility allow it to use airports close to where its cargo is produced and needed.
The perfect aircraft for delivering vital parts or materials quickly, this famously efficient private jet accommodates five pallets and has a range of nearly 3,000 miles.
A smaller, twin-engined jet built for short- to medium-range transportation. Cargo capacity is a little over 10 tons, but the ability to use shorter runways increases the versatility of this aircraft.
Built for efficient delivery of huge loads to any corner of the globe. The wide-body design, with an opening nose, large side door, and cargo handling system, simplifies loading and unloading.
talk to an expeditor now
Call (800) 713-1000
