What Air Freight Tax Charges Are There?

In the United States the Airport and Airway Trust Fund are providing funds for capital improvements to the US airport and airway system and in order to fund the aviation trust fund taxes have been imposed on both commercial and non-commercial aviation. Below we are going to look at air freight tax and what exactly it is with reference to the United States.

There are two types of taxes that are imposed on the air freight services as follows:

1. Waybill tax imposed on freight transportation. 2. Fuel taxes on gasoline and jet fuel for freight services (non-commercial aviation)

1. Waybill Tax

In the United States air freight tax is charged on all domestic air cargo transportation at 6.25% ad valorem excise tax and this tax only applies to transportation that begins and ends in the United States. But unlike air passenger taxes the shippers are the ones liable for the air freight tax payment and so transportation providers are subject to penalties if they fail to make reasonable efforts to collect the tax that has been imposed. In the United States there is no disclosure requirement with regard to air freight tax and this tax expires after the 30 September 2007.

2. Fuel Tax Where freight services are concerned (non-commercial aviation) they are only subject to a fuel tax and the rates for both gasoline and jet fuel are shown below.

1. Non-commercial aviation is taxed at 19.4cents per gallon of aviation gasoline 2. Non-commercial aviation is taxed at 21.9cents per gallon on jet fuel.

Air freight companies also need to factor in an additional 0.1 cent leaking underground storage tank trust fund tax as well.

As you will soon discover that in order for air freight companies to make a profit they will usually include a surcharge on their quotations and bills to help towards the cost of the air freight tax that they are required to pay. So it is advisable when looking at using an air freight company in the future you read the small print of their contract in order to know exactly what you are paying for.

Evert DuToit is a writer and website publisher from Pittsburgh, PA. For more information about the air freight industry, and the cost of air freight, visit us at airfreight.information-pages.biz.

What Is The Role Of An International Air Freight Forwarding Company?

The role of an international air freight forwarding company is to provide their clients with their skills and expertise in order to arrange shipment of goods to over parts of the country or world. This allows the client to get on with the important job of producing the goods.

There are many benefits to be had from using an international air freight forwarding company and a few are provided below:-

1. From the beginning of an export order a commercial shipper can rely on the freight forwarding company to provide logistics solutions which will expertly arrange the shipping of his client's freight.

2. The freight forwarding company can be relied upon to follow the shipment all the way through from the supply chain to its final delivery any where around the world.

3. A international freight forwarding company will handle all paperwork that is necessary relating to the importing and exporting of goods and this will include such things as shipping notes, bills of lading, letters of credit, certificates of origin or any other documents that need to be included for the safe passage of your goods through customs both on departure and delivery. Why not speak to your freight forwarding advisor if you have any questions or queries regarding the documentation side of their services.

4. They will provide a pivotal role between you as the customer and your overseas client in order to ensure that the delivery is made on time and that is delivered safely to your client abroad.

However the role of an international air freight forwarding company is not simply the matter of them shipping your goods to your clients abroad they are also there to offer you help and advice with regard to the shipping of your goods along with information relating to letters of credit, bills of lading, any Foreign custom requirements along with custom formalities for the importing and exporting of goods. They should also be able to provide you with information in regard to any tax duties that may have to be paid in order for your goods to pass smoothly and swiftly through customs.

Evert DuToit is a writer and website publisher from Pittsburgh, PA. For more information about the air freight industry, and air freight forwarders, visit us at airfreight.information-pages.biz.

Tracing The History Of The Air Freight Forwarding Industry

Man has always had a fascination for flying, ever finding ways to take to the skies and fly to distant places. This fascination, a dream that wouldn't die generation after generation, was what eventually led to the birth of airplanes.

Today, airplanes are mainly responsible for taking us to any point in the world. Airplanes have become major transportation carriers. Not only do airplanes enable us to visit a friend or a loved in another continent, airplanes also carry shipments -- from small items to large ones.

The idea of using an airplane to transport shipments took seed in 1910. According to aviation history, a shipment of silk was flown from Dayton to Columbus, Ohio. This shipment is believed to be the first air freight demonstration.

Nine years later, another airplane became freight carrier. The cargo: a converted bomber that weighed over a thousand pounds. Shipped by the American Railway Express, the converted bomber was flown to Chicago from Washington D.C. The journey was not uneventful, though. A frozen radiator forced the pilot to land the plane in Ohio.

The 1920s saw several airlines operate as freight carriers, catering only to American businesses. The arrival of air freight has helped businesses transport merchandise more rapidly as well as shorten the time they need to conclude transactions.

Between 1927 and 1931, the number and size of air freight cargo reached nearly a million pounds, up from 45,000 pounds. Commercial air freight began operating only after World War II ended although there were efforts to organize the air freight business prior to that.

American, United, TWA and Eastern -- the top four known airlines -- formed Air Cargo, Inc., which operated as an air freight company until the end of the war. However, United and TWA decided to operate their own air freight business in 1944.

The air freight industry was lucrative, which was why many small plane owners tried to get into the business but failed. The bigger airlines, concerned that the smaller airlines will adversely affect the industry's status quo, did not let smaller airlines into the air freight business. In addition, the big airlines did not want more competition. While many small plane operators tried and failed, the "Flying Tigers" survived. Known as the largest in air freight liner industry during its time, The Flying Tigers carried military and civilian cargo.

The air freight forwarding business may have had a good start, but it didn't really start developing until a man named Fred Smith started an air freight business that has become recognizable across the world -- Federal Express, or simply FedEx.

FedEx is one of the air freight carriers enjoying a great degree of success. FedEx uses modern technology (e.g., air freight software) in responding to the needs of its customers. The air freight software that FedEx uses, the latest in the freight forwarding industry, can resolve problems in the system as well as give customers services that are cost effective.

FedEx and UPS, another air freight carrier, are considered the two most reliable air freight forwarding companies in the United States today.

Please visit Air Freight Knowledge Base ?for more info.

What Does the Future Hold for the Chinese Air Freight Industry?

Recent figures show that China is the fastest growing aviation market in the world. Indeed, between 204 and 2005 China's air freight volume increased by 25% and 20% respectively. Furthermore, passenger traffic also grew considerably in this period.

However, shortage of available freighters is threatening to restrict the growth of China's air freight industry. According to the vice President of China's largest air freight forwarding company,

"We want to expand as fast as possible ... But it is very difficult to find aircraft at the moment."

One way around the problem of freighter shortages is to use other aircraft, like the B777 which are new freighters with very good fuel efficiency. However, these types of freight planes are unlikely to be available for the next couple of years.

Other options that some of China's large freight forwarding companies are looking into is to expand their road feeder services. This would enable them to create a network across the country which could be integrated with their air freight services.

Furthermore, opportunities will be created by the expansion of Beijing Capital International airport along with the Simplified Customs Clearance Procedure. These two factors will combine to accelerate the growth of the air freight business in China.

Although the growth rate of China's air freight sector is expected to slow down this in 2006, it will not stop completely. According to experts in the freight industry, Chinese air freight cargo volumes are predicted to increase by 10% in 2006. If this does happen then China's air freight volume will be 3.36 million tons. This means that it will still be a dominant player in the global air freight market.

On a similar note, air passenger numbers are also likely to grow. Industry insiders estimate that air passenger numbers will rise by 15%. If this increase takes place then around 159 million people will travel by aeroplane out of China this year.

GBS Freight is a UK freight forwarding company

Air Freight Forwarding Companies Involved In Price Fixing

A worldwide investigation has been launched into alleged fuel price fixing by the air freight forwarding industry. Eleven major freight carrying airlines are being accused of trying to fix fuel price surcharges for freight forwarding flights. Amongst the airlines being accused of price fixing are British Airways, United Airlines and Lufthansa.

The airlines are being sued for fuel price fixing by a Tanzanian firm which had used KLM as a freight forwarding company to transport wood carvings to New York. The company, Sisimizi which is based in Dar-Es-Salaam in Tanzania, is seeking unspecified damages from a number of major airlines which act as freight forwarding companies. The complaint about fuel price fixing by leading airlines was filed on February 28 in US District Court for the Northeastern District of Illinois.

According to Julius Maldutis, the president of consulting firm Aviation Dynamics:

"This is going to be a very big issue because all the airlines increased the price of their cargo business concurrently".

According to recent reports, Lufthansa has offered to cooperate with US federal prosecutors who are investigating the claim that price-fixing is taking place in the global airline freight forwarding industry.

Legal experts claim that by offering to co-operate with the authorities, Lufthansa could protect itself from possible criminal charges. This is most likely to be the case if it provides evidence against other air freight forwarding companies.

The investigation into allegations of fuel price fixing became public in February this year. At this time, authorities in Europe, Asia and the United States raided offices of a number of the world's major airlines. They also requested information from other air freight forwarding companies. The crux of their investigations rests on the claim that air freight forwarders conspired to fix fuel surcharges and other fuel related costs. A number of airlines have been asked to provide evidence and most have said that they are co-operating with these requests.

GBS Freight is a freight forwarding company with over twenty years industry experience