Strong consumer demand, continued supply chain bottlenecks and tight carrier capacity sent air, ground and ocean transportation rates soaring to historic levels in 2021 as shippers leaned on third-party logistics providers to bolster inventories and avoid product stockouts.
Expeditors International of Washington, the largest U.S.-based freight forwarder, had a better-than-average 2020 with gross revenue increasing 23.7% to $10.1 billion and net revenue increasing 11% to $2.9 billion. Growth primarily came from airfreight, where gross revenue grew a whopping 63% to $4.8 billion, from $2.9 billion in 2019.
Apex Logistics International, headquartered in Hong Kong, has significant operations in the U.S. and is one of the largest China-U.S. airfreight forwarders. Its airfreight metric tons grew 44% to 750,000 in 2020, driving a 53% increase in gross revenue to $2.3 billion. Apex Logistics managed multiple weekly air charters of PPE from China to the U.S. and has burgeoning e-commerce business. It also more than doubled its ocean freight forwarding business, which ended 2020 with 190,000 20-foot equivalent units.