What a retail programme needs from the inland leg.
Space secured through our carrier and NVOCC partnerships on the principal trades, with equipment priority for contracted customers through peak.
Ocean Freight
Cargo moves from marine equipment into 53′ domestic containers — fewer inland moves, lower cost per unit, steamship line equipment released fast.
Warehousing & Distribution
CBSA-approved facilities hold goods under bond until the launch date arrives or the duty timing works in your favour.
Rail & Intermodal
Into the appointment window on Amar trucks and chassis, dispatched from Amar terminals — never re-tendered.
Inland Transport & DrayageA peak-season commitment is only as good as the capacity behind it. Amar’s rests on equipment already in our yards and dispatch we control, which is why it holds in the months when capacity is scarce.
It is also why contracted customers get a delivery date rather than a window. A date is only possible when one company controls the box from the discharge terminal to the dock door.
Retail freight is measured against the DC appointment: a missed delivery window means compliance chargebacks; a met one is simply expected. Nobody thanks a forwarder for hitting the date. You only ever hear about the one that slipped — and by then the cost isn’t the freight bill, it’s the deduction, the lost promotion week and the buyer’s confidence.
Peak is when the model breaks. Between August and November every importer in the market is competing for the same drayage capacity, and a forwarder who brokers the inland leg is out bidding for trucks with your freight already on the water. Amar doesn’t bid. The trucks, chassis and yard slots that move your peak volume are the same ones that move it in February, because they’re ours and they aren’t for sale to the spot market.
The solutions behind a retail programme, from origin booking through to the DC appointment.
Send us a lane, a commodity and a volume. A pricing analyst responds within one business day with pricing broken out by leg — ocean, customs, rail, drayage and storage — so you can see what each stage costs.
Common questions from retail & consumer goods shippers.
Yes — for leading North American retailers and importers across Canada and the United States. Customer relationships are held under non-disclosure so we don’t publish names, but we’re happy to discuss relevant experience directly.
Yes. Our terminals include CBSA-approved bonded space, so goods can sit under bond until the release date you want — deferring duty and keeping the container out of demurrage while you wait.
Our telematics surface the exception — a late gate-out, dwell building at a ramp — to dispatch while there’s still time to act. Because the equipment is ours, the usual answer is that we re-dispatch rather than tell you it slipped.
Contract customers hold committed capacity at contract rates through peak rather than being re-quoted at spot. Send a lane, a commodity and an annual volume and a pricing analyst responds within one business day.
