UPS Trade Direct’s “Warehouse in Motion” can now fly, drive or sail

UPS has announced the expansion of its Trade Direct services by adding air capability to the options for moving goods into the United States, in effect putting warehouses in the sky.

UPS Trade DirectSM services streamline the supply chain by making it easy to move goods directly from international factories through customs to multiple U.S. locations, eliminating the need for warehouse stops at the border for repackaging.

UPS previously had launched Trade DirectSM Ocean and Trade DirectSM Cross Border services and now has added Trade DirectSM Air for an even faster option.

“We needed a better way to get our products to market from around the world and Trade Direct was it,” said Gene Kunde, chief operating officer of Birkenstock Footprint Sandals Inc., a California-based importer of German-made shoes. “We’ve been able to cut the time it takes to get shoes to stores in half, to just three weeks. Our spring fashion merchandise shipped 100% on time, for the first time in history.”

UPS Trade Direct handles the transport of goods from the moment they are shipped from a factory in Asia, Europe, South America or across the border in Mexico and Canada to the time they arrive at a retail store or consumer’s home. The service allows customers to speed their merchandise directly into the UPS delivery system as soon as the goods clear customs, reducing the need for lengthy and costly warehouse stops before final U.S. delivery.

In the process, UPS Trade Direct provides customers with a single point of contact, one shipping invoice and unmatched shipment visibility through UPS’s Flex® Global View technology, which provides multiple levels of detail about multimodal shipments.

Here’s how Trade Direct works:

Goods bound for the United States are individually packaged, labeled for U.S. delivery by UPS, then consolidated into one freight shipment. After moving via airplane, ship or truck, the goods clear U.S. Customs as a consolidated unit. That unit then is separated back into individual parcel or LTL shipments, bypassing costly distribution center stops, and placed directly into the UPS system for final delivery.
As UPS handles the goods throughout this process, customers know where their orders are at any time via UPS’s tracking and shipping notification technology. Then, they receive one, simple shipping bill in U.S. dollars.
See the process explained.

“UPS Trade Direct offers businesses a warehouse in motion – seamlessly handling shipments every step of the way from factory to consumers, whether retail outlets or homes,” said Kurt Kuehn, senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing. “By relying on the full strength of the UPS network, companies can streamline and accelerate their international shipments.”

UPS plans to expand its Trade Direct products to handle imports to and exports from other international regions. Trade Direct Cross Border already is available for U.S. exports to Canada and Mexico. For more information about UPS Trade Direct products, go to pressroom.ups.com/tradedirect.