(626) 723-0722Ship Direct to and from Honolulu, Hilo, Kona, Maui, and Kauai
Five Terminals to Get Your
Freight Anywhere in Hawaii
Whether you’re shipping freight to Oahu or one of the neighboring islands, Approved Freight Forwarders’ asset-based approach will save you time, effort, and money—while delivering best-in-class service. With terminals, warehouses, and teams in Honolulu, Hilo, Kona, Kahului, and Lihue, we can get your freight anywhere it needs to go in Hawaii—fast.
Honolulu Terminal (Oahu)
Honolulu Harbor handles more than 8 million tons of cargo annually. Our terminal is located just adjacent to the steamship line terminals so we can pick up your Honolulu-bound LCL and FCL ocean freight quickly and easily. We’re also just a quick hop from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), offering us easy access to incoming and outgoing Honolulu air freight.
Our secure warehouse and fleet are centrally located to allow easy access to both the leeward and windward sides of Oahu, as well as downtown Honolulu. Plus, with secure fencing and 24-hour video surveillance, your freight is always secure at our facility.
Services Offered:
Freight forwarding for domestic and international freight, including FCL, LCL and air freight
Mainland and U.S. freight services
Oversized freight and equipment, including medical equipment
Pick-up and delivery
Drayage
Transloading & cross-dock operations
Consolidation/deconsolidation
Warehousing services, including wholesale & retail distribution, product preparation, crating, palletizing and shrink-wrapping services
Kailua-Kona (Big Island)
Big Island ocean freight and charters are the bulk of the activity at Kawaihae Harbor.
Approved’s location is just down the Kona Coast from Kawaihae, on the way to downtown Kailua-Kona. We have trucks for drayage and delivery, a warehouse and team to transload your Big Island freight, and a support center to provide updates along the way. We’re also located right next to Kona International Airport (KOA) for quick pick-ups and drop-offs of Big Island air freight.
Services Offered:
Freight forwarding for domestic and
international freight, including FCL, LCL and air
freight
Mainland and U.S. freight services
Oversized freight and equipment, including
medical equipment
Pick-up and delivery
Drayage
Transloading & cross-dock operations
Consolidation/deconsolidation
Warehousing services, including wholesale &
retail distribution, product preparation, crating,
palletizing and shrink-wrapping services
Hilo (Big Island)
The port at Hilo Bay is a full-service commercial center. Cruise ships, inter-island Hawaii freight, and international cargo ships and containers all dock at this hub for Big Island ocean freight.
Approved Freight’s location is just a 15-minute drive
from Hilo Bay for easy container drayage from the port. We’re also equally close to Hilo International Airport (ITO) for Big Island air freight drop-offs and pick-ups.
Services Offered:
Freight forwarding for domestic and
international freight, including FCL, LCL and air
freight
Mainland and U.S. freight services
Oversized freight and equipment, including
medical equipment
Pick-up and delivery
Drayage
Transloading & cross-dock operations
Consolidation/deconsolidation
Warehousing services, including wholesale &
retail distribution, product preparation, crating,
palletizing and shrink-wrapping services
Kahului (Maui)
Kahului is the commercial center of the Valley Isle, as
well as home to its seaport and Kahului Airport (OGG).
Approved Freight’s Maui terminal is located just two miles from Kahului Harbor. This makes pick-up and drop-off of containers and Maui ocean freight consolidations a breeze. We offer drayage to and from Kahului Harbor, and we can deconsolidate Maui ocean freight at our modern, centrally-located facility to prep freight for its final destination. Plus, Mauiair cargo drop-off and pick-up is just a little over a mile from our terminal, offering easy access to inbound and outbound Maui air freight.
Services Offered:
Freight forwarding for domestic and
international freight, including FCL, LCL and air
freight
Mainland and U.S. freight services
Oversized freight and equipment, including
medical equipment
Pick-up and delivery
Drayage
Transloading & cross-dock operations
Consolidation/deconsolidation
Warehousing services, including wholesale &
retail distribution, product preparation, crating,
palletizing and shrink-wrapping services
Lihue (Kaua’i)
Lihue is home to Kauai’s main ocean freight port, Nawiliwili, as well as its international airport.
Our Approved facility is just three miles from Nawiliwili Harbor, making it easy for us to pick up and drop off Kauai ocean freight arriving via twice-weekly sails from California. Lihue Airport (LIH) is just a few miles farther, which means simple sending and receiving for Kauai air cargo.
Services Offered:
Freight forwarding for domestic and
international freight, including FCL, LCL and air
freight
Mainland and U.S. freight services
Oversized freight and equipment, including
medical equipment
Pick-up and delivery
Drayage
Transloading & cross-dock operations
Consolidation/deconsolidation
Warehousing services, including wholesale &
retail distribution, product preparation, crating,
palletizing and shrink-wrapping services
How the Approved Approach Saves You Time, Effort,
and Money
As the only carrier with complete ownership of our Hawaii terminal operations, we don’t have to rely on outside agents, which creates several advantages for you:
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Schedules That Work for You: Because we run our own fleets, we’re able to offer you the pick-up and delivery
schedules that work for your business—and simplify your supply chain. -
Greater Efficiency and Lower Freight Costs: We’ve been streamlining mainland-to-Hawaii freight transportation
for decades. By letting Approved handle your cargo from your loading dock on the mainland all the way
through final delivery in Hawaii, we can help you uncover new efficiencies and reduce your freight costs. -
A Single Point of Contact for Fast Answers: We offer a seamless solution with continuous accountability and
ownership from origin to destination. Need an update? Reach out to your dedicated Approved Account
Executive, and we’ll get you the answers—or the assistance—you need, fast. -
Careful Handling from Origin to Destination: We’re proud to have one of the industry’s lowest damage and
claim rates. When you trust your cargo to us, you can do so with the confidence that it will arrive in perfect
condition—and on time.
Why settle for the high costs and communication breakdowns that invariably come with using more than one
vendor? Choose Approved for your Hawaii freight and commercial cargo shipping needs, and we’ll carry you every
step of the way.
Request your free quote by clicking below. One of our freight experts will get back to you within one business day.
Common Questions About Hawaii Freight
How do I ship to Hawaii from the mainland?
Mainland cargo bound for Hawaii moves via two
modes of transport: ocean freight or air freight.
For ocean freight bound for Oahu, Maui, the Big Island, and Kauai, we offer two solutions:
Learn more about sending ocean freight to Hawaii.
Less-Than-Container Load (LCL) Shipments/Consolidations
Full Container Load (FCL)
Shipments
Air freight from the mainland to Hawaii comes in several different service levels, which vary in pricing and speed.
Learn more about sending air freight to Hawaii.
What is a forwarding agent in shipping?
A forwarding agent, also known as a freight forwarder, is a company that:
Receives freight from a shipper
Arranges for its transportation with one or more carriers to move that freight to its final destination.
Asset-based operations that own their own warehouses, run their own fleets, and employ their own delivery teams.
Operations that use agents. In other words, these providers contract out their Hawaii deliveries to their own partners in the Hawaiian islands.
In Hawaii, Approved is the only asset-based freight forwarder that owns and operates its own terminals and
equipment on all four major Hawaiian Islands: Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and both sides of the Big Island—Kona and
Hilo.
This means we’re fully in control of our delivery schedules. In contrast, when forwarders use outside companies
for delivery, they may end up at the mercy of those outside companies’ schedules. Because we own our own
fleets, our customers get top priority when it comes to scheduling.
Additionally, being an asset-based provider means that we can deliver seamless experience from start to finish. You’ll deal with one point of contact, and you’ll always know exactly where your cargo is at all times.
What is the difference between logistics and freight forwarding?
In short, freight forwarding is a subset of logistics.
In the transportation industry,
logistics covers the entire process of moving raw materials, supplies, and finished goods from their points of origin to their final destinations.
Freight forwarders play a role in this overall process by coordinating the movement of those raw materials, supplies, and finished goods with the carriers who move those items.
What is the difference between carrier and freight forwarder?
The term carrier refers to the company
that actually moves freight.
A freight forwarder contracts with a carrier to move freight on behalf of its customer.
In the case of asset-based freight forwarders, they may also be considered the carrier if, at some point during the
journey, they move freight using their own equipment.
For example, we act as a freight forwarder for our Hawaii-bound freight. We work with our customers to receive their freight and book reservations with the ocean freight carriers—the steamship lines that own the cargo ships
that physically move the freight to Hawaii. If we also do the final delivery using one of our Approved trucks in Hawaii, Approved would be considered the carrier for that final leg of the journey
One other interesting distinction to note when it comes to Hawaii freight: Freight forwarders also organize consolidations, also known as less-than-container load (LCL) freight. To create a consolidated load, freight forwarders work with individual shippers who have smaller loads that aren’t large enough to fill an entire container. Forwarders receive these smaller loads, pack them all into a single container, and then ship the entire container to Hawaii. In contrast, steamship lines, the ocean freight carriers, do not offer this service.
What is a forwarding agent in shipping?
A forwarding agent, also known as a freight forwarder, is a company that:
Ocean freight to Oahu takes 5 days from California to Honolulu
Ocean freight to Kona takes 7-9 days from California to Kawaihae
Ocean freight to Hilo takes 7-9 days from California to Hilo
Ocean freight to Maui takes 7 days from California to Kahului
Ocean freight to Kauai takes 7 days from California to Nawiliwili
Freight is unloaded and delivered 24-48 hours after the container is made ailable at the port:
