American Worldwide Agencies Brings an Aussie Style to U.S. Forwarding

LONG BEACH, California – July 15, 2013 -- American Worldwide Agencies, a connected, global network of freight forwarders and agents dedicated to providing U.S. international shippers with the right transportation at the right rate, announced today that it has grown by 260% since launching its service in 2012. CEO Andrew Scott says the company’s “non-traditional, Australian-flavored forwarding style is being well received by U.S. companies and manufacturers.”

AWA saw a gap in the market and an opportunity to deliver creative shipping solutions that would help build and grow companies in niche markets when it started up 14 months ago, says Scott. “As a mid-sized, export-focused U.S. forwarder with equal strengths in both air and ocean freight, AWA brings new and inventive solutions to difficult logistics problems,” he says. “Whether a customer is faced with intractable, long-standing logistics challenges or new situations with no historical precedent, AWA will find an effective, cost-efficient and sustainable solution. In fact, many of our customers know us as the logistics provider to turn to when they cannot find a solution."

One example is the new Aussie-One Program recently launched under the leadership of Graham Burford, partner and director of sales. Burford says that during years of working on both sides of the US and Australian markets, he saw how cultural differences often lead to a disconnect in communication and understanding. “The Aussie-One program focuses on bridging the two countries from a shipping standpoint and addresses the language/communication barriers and the unusual requirements of these two large and expansive geographic regions,” Burford says. He notes, for example, that Perth to Sydney is the equivalent of Los Angeles to Atlanta in distance, “but with a much smaller population and challenging layers of infrastructure to maneuver through."

"Our Australian customers were looking for a US partner to fulfill all of their communication and logistics needs with a greater level of detail and feedback and the Aussie-One program has been incredible," says Burford. "We are creating a new shipping standard."
Burford, who was born and bred in Australia, moved to the US via Asia in 2007. He previously was vice president of sales for a U.S.-based airfreight consolidator and led that company to a 40 percent revenue increase during his first five years by developing new trade lanes and expanding the company’s footprint to new destinations.

Scott says Burford typifies AWA’s customer-driven management approach and its leadership team of seasoned veterans from the ocean and air transportation industries. This team’s experience has enabled AWA to maximize its buying power, achieving savings that are passed along to customers, Scott says. “ With these savings, small and mid-sized shippers are able to better compete in the global market, which is one of the key reasons that we are expanding so quickly.”

In addition to partnerships with a network of international forwarders and agents, AWA has contracts with a variety of air and ocean carriers and works closely with thousands of U.S. and foreign vendors, including ground carriers, ports, airports, ramps, terminals and container freight stations serving AWA’s core markets of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands. “These relationships provide the local expertise necessary for AWA to meet both the routine and exceptional transportation requirements of its customers, delivering freight of every size and type, every day, to its core markets and to other locations around the globe,” says Scott.

About American Worldwide Agencies:
American Worldwide Agencies (AWA) is a connected, global network of freight forwarders and agents dedicated to providing U.S. international shippers with the right transportation at the right rate, whatever the cargo or challenge. Using an array of air, ocean and ground carriers, AWA delivers freight of every size and type, including oversized and project, every day, to its core markets of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands as well as other points around the globe.
Through its worldwide agency partners, AWA has the local knowledge and experience to rapidly respond to all customer requests, to continually monitor shipments and to actively communicate status reports.