Freight Origin and Owner
12/12/2025
The Origins of freight and the Owner or controller of the freight is always in question. Who controls the freight and does the freight belong to the carrier? As a Salesperson I have said I have freight and I then been corrected. "I have freight." "The freight is in my control until signed for by the customer." Who controls the "Chain of Custody?" This all depends on the level of service or service provider. The "Chain of Custody" depends on whether or not the customer called an Office, Agent, Cartage Agent, Freight Forwarder, 3PL, 4PL, or a 5PL. This also depends on the origin of the freight or the paying shipper. The origin of the freight is often the controlling factor because the shipper is the company that sourced the shipping order. The shipper is often the customer paying the freight charges. That means the shipper owns the freight. In the case of a Freight Forwarder, 3PL, 4PL or 5PL it is confusing who owns the freight. When shipping international freight ownership of the freight may change hands at customs, vessel or airport. There are rare cases that the consignee is the shipper and the payer.
Chain of custody is very important in the question of who owns the freight even more important is who owns the freight while in transit. I met Dhivya Suryadevara when she was at GM and responsible for parts procurement. Ms. Suryadevara's boss Jack founded out I was in freight. I offered a suggestion or two and he asked if I could fix the problem. He was not happy. A plant failed to place an order in time, and the parts were in a truck and not at the plant. I explained I could fix it using my network at Service By Air. He challenged to get an answer. It will take about 15 minutes. I will give you an hour. I gave him the answer that required going to the truck and cutting the seal on the trailer. I was in a helicopter within an hour and on my way to meet the truck. I had to get the trucking company to release the freight to me. "The freight is mine was the trucklines position." "No, the freight belongs to GM." I need needed no less than 10 boxes, but I would take 20 boxes and let the truck continue to the plant. The problem is the 3PL didn't like going outside their network. Going outside their network doesn't happen often but it does happen. I delivered a box to GM in Kentucky in 2002 or early 2003 for GM when I first began at Service By Air. I was running late and promised Larry Widlowski (Service By Air Hebron, Kentucky) I would make it to him. I was in the network working and used the Service By Air system a few times. I used the SBA Global Logistics Services Southwest Airlines account and delivery agent or office at least once. The freight belonged to GM and their 3PL.
Being a Sales Representative/Account Manager at the corporate level is sometimes complicated. Though there is a plant in your city or region does not means that plant controls the freight. I had a customer in St. Louis, Missouri, USA Senda Tire at first. Then the name changed to Zisser Tire Wholesale (ZT Wholesale) which was bought by Sentaida International owned by Sentaida Group. Corporate acquisition cost me my customer. Brian McMillian Los Angeles Corporate Office at Service By Air might have got the shipping orders. The warehouse and Headquarters was moved to Southern California. While in St. Louis, Missouri, USA I was given the name of a woman Claire in China to try and sell our services to Sentaida International after the move. That is often the challenge of being a salesperson on the corporate or 3PL level. Service By Air St. Louis was becoming more active in the 3PL RFP (Request for Proposal) processes. Rickey Richman (New York) and Larry Widlowski (Kentucky) were the buffer between Office sales and Corporate Sales. I was told by Rickey and Larry tell me when we need to be ready for the corporate sale call. I had help in SBA Global Logistics Services Chicago, Illinois, USA (Brian Healey) with a day of sales. Ownership of the freight at the corporate level is tricky. There may be city, district or regional sales territories. It is common curtesy to inform the city that you will be visiting that you're selling in their area. In Freight Forwarding with Office Agents and Agents it raises the question of who the controlling office is. It means whose customer is the shipper. It is even more confusing when the consignee is the controlling shipper in another city.
Freight Sales at the Corporate level is all logistics terms, service levels and rates. in 2005 Professor Daniel Rust was at the University of St. Louis-Missouri as a Transportation program Professor. UMSL offers a Freight Transportation Degree. As a student of Professor Rust's I was able to obtain transportation course credits toward a certificate in Freight Transportation. I had just finished a semester or two of course load when Professor Rust asked me if I wanted to transfer to Saint Louis University to try the new Logistics Management program. I attended two classes and was able to get the level of accreditation available. The program was still changing and would offer more classes in a year or two. I was asked by Professor Rust if I was interested in taking a class at University of Wisconsin-Superior it would be a chance to work in Ocean Freight. We acquired a Vessel with Matt Damon (The Actor) and sailed Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Lake Superior. Professor Rust and the students of UW-Superior study International and Intermodal services of the region. All of this knowledge is needed for an Operations, Sales and Management position at most Freight Forwarders, 3PLs, 4PLs, and 5PLs level. I already had a career in Truck Brokerage and Airfreight sales. I even did a few quotes for Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. This led to our corporate International Department lending our office Robert Riley. He worked closely with Mr. Jagger to assist in the concert level logistics that he required extensive quotes on for the 2007and 2008 World Tour. "I want to Mooo-oo-oove Freight Like Jagger."
As I was saying the origin of the freight is very important. TricorBraun is Headquarter in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Rick Bain was great to work with at the corporate level. During a TSA verification the St. Louis Office of SBA Global Logistics Services signed all of the plants, offices, and warehouses which crossed more than one two territories in the United States. TricorBraun's parent company is Headquartered in Germany. That was a highlight of my sales career in the mid 2000's. Mr. Bain commented a few times that he needed truck services more than air services. Fleet truck services were not in SBA Global Logistics Services repertoire at that time. In 3PL, 4PL and 5PL sales you have to be able to sell at the Headquarters. The magic at the sales call is all about bringing the 100-million-dollar presentation to the conference room. That means the presentations are brought to Detroit, Southern California, yes even China if necessary. The origins of the freight orders are on the Freight Platform in the Corporate Office shipping from anywhere in the world.
By Darren Dwayne Frazier
Photograph by Highland Productions LLC