Carton forwarding moves master cartons from your factory or freight forwarder into marketplace fulfillment centers with as little dwell time as possible. We receive, verify, relabel and split, then ship.
How carton forwarding works
Most importers ship master cartons that are already case-packed with finished units. If the factory prepped and labeled the units, those cartons do not need unit-level work; they need inspection, carton labels and routing.
We receive the container or LTL shipment, count cartons against your packing list, photograph the load and any damage, and then apply marketplace carton labels and confirm box content information. Cartons are then split to the fulfillment center destinations assigned by your shipment plans and released by small parcel, LTL or truckload. When some cartons need rework, those are pulled aside for unit prep while the rest keep moving.
Why not ship straight from the port?
Shipping directly from the factory to the marketplace can work, but it leaves no checkpoint. If the factory used the wrong labels, packed overweight cartons or miscounted units, the problem is discovered at the fulfillment center, where fixing it is slow and expensive.
A forwarding stop adds inspection without adding much time. It also lets you hold part of a container and release inventory in waves, which helps when marketplace inventory limits or inbound capacity restrict how much you can send at once, and avoids long-term storage fees on stock that will not sell for months.
Carton requirements we check
Marketplaces publish strict carton standards, and violations can lead to refused shipments or extra fees. For Amazon, standard cartons generally should not exceed 50 lb unless they contain a single oversize item marked team lift, and should not have any side longer than 25 inches for standard-size items. Each carton needs its own carton label, and box content information must match what is inside.
Pallets for LTL or truckload shipments need to meet the marketplace's pallet specifications, including size, height and labeling. We check these limits before cartons are sealed, and repack or split cartons that exceed them rather than letting them ship.
Splits, waves and multi-channel allocation
One container can feed several marketplaces. We can allocate cartons to Amazon FBA, Walmart WFS and TikTok Shop by your instructions, hold a reserve for later replenishment and record exactly what went where.
Where a shipment plan assigns multiple fulfillment centers, we build each destination's shipment separately with its own labels and paperwork. When inbound placement options change the number of destinations, we can rebuild shipments to match the option you choose. You get a shipment-level record of carton counts and tracking for every release.
What's included
- Container devanning and LTL receiving
- Carton count and damage photo logs
- Factory-label sample audits
- Carton labels and box content verification
- Overweight and oversize carton repacking
- Fulfillment center splits and wave releases
- Small parcel, LTL and truckload outbound
Frequently asked questions
Can you receive a floor-loaded container?
Yes. Floor-loaded containers are devanned, counted and palletized at receiving. Provide your packing list and arrival estimate so labor and dock time are scheduled.
Do you store inventory as part of carton forwarding?
Short-term holding is available for wave releases and replenishment. Carton forwarding is designed as flow-through, so storage is only charged when inventory stays beyond the forwarding window.
What if the factory used the wrong labels?
We sample-check factory labels on arrival. If we find errors, we stop, report with photos and quote relabeling before anything ships.
Can one container go to several fulfillment centers?
Yes. We split cartons by the destinations in your shipment plans, build each shipment separately and provide carton counts and tracking for each.