Door to door freight shipping to the US looks simple when you book it. Pickup at the supplier. Delivery at your warehouse. One rate on the quote. Then the move actually starts. The origin side quotes a chassis fee. The destination side quotes a different one. The container gets handed to a drayage carrier you've never spoken to. Final-mile delivery slips a day, then two, because nobody owns the appointment. By invoice day, the rate you accepted has picked up charges nobody quoted. Importers of every size bring that problem to Platton.
Platton runs door to door as one accountable workflow, not five disconnected handoffs. A single US-based freight specialist owns the file from supplier pickup through final delivery. Origin handling, ocean or air freight, ISF and customs entry, drayage, inland trucking. All on the same booking, billed against the quote you accepted.
Most door to door bookings get split between three or four intermediaries: origin forwarder, ocean or air carrier, drayage operator, final-mile trucker. Each one quotes separately, invoices separately, and updates on its own schedule. We collapse the whole chain. Rate comparisons that come back instantly, not the next afternoon. Milestones that update automatically. One US-based specialist whose name is on your file from origin pickup to warehouse receiving.
Rates include the inland trucking leg, priced to your delivery zip code. The full landed cost lines up side by side: ocean or air freight, origin handling, customs, drayage, final mile. The cheapest sailing is rarely the fastest one.
Every door to door file gets a named freight specialist. Same person from quote through final delivery. The supplier knows who's coordinating pickup. Your warehouse receiving team knows who to call when the appointment shifts a day. No handoffs between disconnected origin and destination teams.
From the supplier's dock to yours, each leg is a separate line on the quote you accept: pickup, freight, drayage, final-mile delivery. Every line item shows up at the quoting stage, not at billing. If a peak season GRI hits between booking and sailing, you get the alert before the cargo loads. Not as a charge buried two pages into next month's invoice.
Inland delivery sits on the same booking as the freight. Drayage and inland trucking close the loop. No re-quoting between legs.
Door to door means one booking, supplier loading dock to your destination: warehouse, 3PL, distribution center, or Amazon FBA facility. The sequence below shows what happens between those two points, with clear ownership and clear handoff criteria at every step.
You send us the basics: origin address, destination zip, mode preference (ocean FCL, ocean LCL, or air), cargo dimensions and weight, ready date, commodity, Incoterm. You pick a sailing or flight, we issue the booking and lock the rate.
Both filings are made before the cargo reaches the US: the ISF (Importer Security Filing, also known as 10+2) at least 24 hours before loading at origin, the customs entry during transit.
Door to door is mode-agnostic. What changes is how the cargo moves between origin and destination, and which Incoterm sets duty and delivery responsibility. Under DAP the buyer pays the import duties and taxes, under DDP the seller does, and the DDP shipping guide explains what each term means for a US importer.
Ocean is the default mode for door to door shipping to the US once volume crosses one full pallet, or roughly 1 cbm. We book FCL (full container) and LCL (less than container) under door to door coverage. Door to door ocean transit from Asia runs 30 to 50 days. Per-cbm cost lands at a fraction of the air alternative.
Air door to door fits time-critical cargo and high-value, low-volume shipments where the per-kg air rate is justified by inventory carrying cost or a launch deadline. Door to door transit runs 5 to 12 days from major Asian origin airports to US destinations, with airport pickup and final-mile trucking included.
Every door to door quote covers the full move under one booking, not just the freight leg. On request, the same booking also carries cargo insurance, bonded warehousing when the goods should wait before delivery, FBA prep for cargo bound for an Amazon fulfillment center, and palletization at origin.
Origin pickup at the supplier or factory
Export documentation, terminal handling, and container or air ULD loading
Bill of lading or air waybill issuance and document validation
Ocean or air freight on the next available departure
ISF (10+2) filing and US customs entry
Drayage from US port or airport to your destination
Final-mile delivery to your warehouse, 3PL, DC, or FBA facility
Real-time milestone tracking and one named freight specialist on your file
Door to door rates change weekly. The base ocean or air freight is one line on the quote. Around it sit origin pickup and handling, surcharges, accessorials, drayage and final-mile delivery. That's why two door to door quotes from different forwarders can land $1,500 apart on the same lane.
Origin and destination address (zip code, not just port). Mode and service level: ocean FCL, ocean LCL, or air. Cargo volume, weight, and chargeable weight ratio. Incoterm, since it sets where your supplier's part of the move ends and yours begins. Commodity, since hazardous, restricted, or FDA-scope cargo carries higher handling. Bunker adjustments, peak season surcharges, terminal handling, chassis fees, inland fuel. Delivery site conditions: a loading dock or a liftgate, the delivery appointment, waiting time, and residential or limited-access addresses all change the final-mile price.
Submit the basics: origin address, destination zip, mode preference, cargo dimensions and weight, ready date, commodity description, HTS code if available, Incoterm. Add the delivery site details too: dock or no dock, receiving hours, and any access limits. The total on the quote is the total on the invoice.
Port to port covers only the freight leg between origin port and US port of discharge. Door to door covers the full move under one booking: supplier pickup, freight, drayage, final-mile delivery. Port to port looks cheaper on the quote, because the quote ends at the port. Door to door looks more expensive on the quote and almost always lands cheaper on actual landed cost, once chassis, demurrage, drayage, customs fees, and trucking get added back in.
| Factor | Door to Door | Port to Port |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Supplier pickup to warehouse delivery, one booking | Origin port to US port of discharge only |
| Drayage | Booked on the same file, in the same free-time window | Importer coordinates with separate drayage operator |
| Vendor count | One forwarder, one specialist, one invoice | Four to five vendors, multiple invoices, multiple timelines |
| Best for | Importers who want a single landed-cost number | Importers with their own customs, drayage, and trucking contracts |
Two partial options sit between them. Door to port covers supplier pickup and the freight, and the importer takes over at the US port. Port to door starts at the US port of discharge and covers drayage and delivery to your address.
Door to door suits US importers of any size who want one landed-cost number and one point of contact across the entire import lifecycle.
We run door to door service on every major Asia-to-US trade lane and on the highest-volume Europe-to-US lanes. Transit times below run from supplier pickup to warehouse delivery.
China 
US
China is our highest-volume lane. Origin coverage spans Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen (Yantian, Shekou), Qingdao, Xiamen, Tianjin, plus inland sourcing hubs like Yiwu and Dongguan. Door to door ocean transit runs 30 to 50 days into US warehouses. Air door to door runs 5 to 10 days.
India US
Origin coverage in India includes Mundra, Nhava Sheva (Mumbai), and Chennai, with inland pickup across Delhi NCR, Tirupur, and Ludhiana. Door to door ocean transit runs 22 to 34 days via Suez to East Coast, or 22 to 32 via transshipment to West Coast. Air door to door runs 7 to 12 days. Strong lane for textiles, home goods, pharmaceutical inputs, and specialty manufactured items.
Vietnam US
Origin coverage includes Ho Chi Minh City (Cat Lai), Haiphong, and Cai Mep, with inland pickup across Binh Duong and Dong Nai. Door to door ocean transit runs 30 to 45 days. Air door to door runs 6 to 10 days. Door to door pickup from Vietnamese factories has grown sharply as more importers add Vietnam to their China sourcing.
Send us the lane, the mode, the ready date, and the destination address. You'll receive a comparison of live door to door rates with every line item broken out: origin handling, freight, ISF, customs, drayage, final mile. The actual landed cost is visible before you commit.
Request your door to door quote
Door to door shipping is an international freight service where one forwarder books and manages the entire move from the supplier's address to the importer's destination under a single rate and a single point of contact. That includes origin pickup, ocean or air freight, drayage, and final-mile delivery after US customs release.
Door to door transit time depends on mode and lane. Ocean door to door from China to US warehouses runs 30 to 50 days. Air door to door runs 5 to 12 days on the same lanes. Add 1 to 3 days for final-mile delivery if the destination is outside major metro hubs.
Door to door cost depends on mode, origin and destination address, cargo dimensions, Incoterm, and current carrier surcharges.
Port to port pushes origin and destination handling onto the importer; door to door consolidates everything under one forwarder.
Door to door shipping is calculated as the sum of origin handling, international freight (ocean or air), surcharges (BAF, peak season, chassis), US customs charges (entry, MPF, HMF), drayage, and final-mile trucking.
Put the offers on the same terms first: the same pickup address, the same Incoterm, the same ready date, and the same scope from supplier pickup to delivery. Price each warehouse address as its own line, because the final-mile charge changes with the distance from the port and the conditions at the site. Then check that every offer names origin handling, surcharges, free time at the US terminal, and delivery extras such as liftgate, waiting time or an appointment.
The technical minimum for door to door ocean LCL is around 0.5 cbm. Air door to door has no formal minimum, though most carriers apply a chargeable-weight floor of 45 kg. Door to door FCL starts at one full 20ft container and scales up from there.
Cargo insurance is usually an add-on rather than part of the door to door rate. It is quoted separately and shown before you book, and it covers the value of the goods if they are lost or damaged on the way.
An express courier such as FedEx, UPS or DHL is often the cheaper choice for a few small parcels. Once the shipment is palletized or runs to many heavy cartons, door to door air freight usually costs less per kilo.
Yes, for one shipment or many. Each shipment gets its own live quote, and you follow all of them in the same dashboard. East Coast cargo discharges at New York and New Jersey, Norfolk, Charleston or Savannah and goes on by truck to your warehouse.
Door to door stops being the right model when your operations team already has contracted customs, drayage, and final-mile providers in place. At that point, port to port plus your own coordination can come in marginally cheaper. For most importers below five containers a month, door to door stays the simpler and more cost-predictable structure.
Send your supplier's address and your delivery address, and your Platton freight specialist comes back with live rates.
