Built for US freight forwarders, NVOCCs and customs brokers.
Operanta is the offshore operations partner US logistics leaders trust to deliver documentation, operations, customer service and back office at 55–65% lower cost — without sacrificing CBP, FMC and ISF compliance.
Offshore operations for United States logistics
The US freight forwarding, NVOCC and customs brokerage market is the most demanding in the world. Margins are compressed, customer expectations are higher than ever, regulatory exposure is broad — from CBP enforcement on ISF and AMS, through FMC tariff and OTI compliance, to FDA prior notice and CTPAT requirements — and the local hiring market is structurally tight. Average fully-loaded cost of a documentation specialist in New Jersey, Chicago, Long Beach or Houston now exceeds USD 75K. Customer service hires churn at 28–34% annually. Night-shift coverage is almost impossible to staff sustainably without overtime penalties. The math no longer works for purely-local operations teams in most US forwarding businesses. Operanta exists to fix this. We are an offshore operations partner — not a freight forwarder, not a software vendor, not a pooled call centre — that builds dedicated, managed offshore desks for US forwarders, NVOCCs, customs brokers and 3PLs across documentation, operations, customer service and finance back office.
Who we serve in the United States
Our US client base spans the East Coast, Gulf, West Coast and inland markets. We deliver offshore operations to ocean freight forwarders running transpacific, transatlantic and Latin America trade lanes; to NVOCCs filing FMC tariffs and managing carrier interfaces; to licensed customs brokers running ACE, ABI and HTS classification volume; to 3PLs and digital forwarders that need scalable back-office and customer service capacity; and to project cargo and OOG specialists handling complex documentation. Our clients range from owner-operated forwarders with 10 employees and a single trade lane, to mid-market groups operating across multiple US offices, to Tier-1 forwarders rolling out shared services across North America. The model adapts to each.
US regulatory regimes we work with
Operanta's specialists are trained on the regulatory regimes that matter to US logistics operators. We work daily on ISF 10+2 filings to CBP for ocean imports, AMS for air and ocean carriers, ACE for entry preparation, FMC tariff filings and amendments for NVOCCs, FDA prior notice for FSMA-regulated goods, USDA filings, EPA / TSCA documentation for chemicals and a long tail of partner-government-agency (PGA) requirements. We do not provide legal or licensed customs brokerage advice — that remains your licensed broker's responsibility — but we are the operational engine that prepares, validates and submits the underlying data accurately, on time, every time. We are equally fluent in CTPAT documentation, AEO mutual recognition workflows and TSA known-shipper / IAC programmes for air freight.
- ISF 10+2 filings to CBP — drafting, validation, transmission and amendment
- AMS / ACE entry preparation, HTS classification support and audit-ready archival
- FMC tariff and service contract filings, amendments and OTI compliance support
- FDA prior notice, USDA, EPA / TSCA and other PGA documentation
- CTPAT documentation, supply-chain security questionnaires and audit prep
- TSA known-shipper / IAC documentation for air freight forwarders
What an Operanta desk looks like for a US forwarder
A typical US freight forwarder deploys a 6–25 person Operanta team within 60–90 days. The first hire is usually a documentation specialist running BL drafting, ISF and AMS preparation. The second wave adds an operations coordinator for tracking, exception management and carrier coordination. From there, most clients add a customer service desk for shipper and consignee enquiries, followed by a back-office desk for freight invoice audit, AR / AP and vendor onboarding. A named Operanta team lead with 8+ years of US-trade experience runs the whole desk and meets your operations leadership weekly. Standard reporting includes a daily quality scorecard, a weekly SLA report and a monthly business review.
The economics: what US clients save
Our US clients typically save 55–65% on the fully-loaded cost of equivalent local hires. A documentation specialist who costs USD 75–85K fully loaded in New Jersey lands at USD 28–32K through Operanta. A customer service agent who costs USD 60–70K fully loaded in Atlanta lands at USD 22–26K. A junior freight invoice auditor who costs USD 70K in Long Beach lands at USD 26K. On top of the direct cost savings, our clients typically recover an additional USD 250K–USD 1M annually through freight invoice audit, vendor master de-duplication and recovered credit notes. The combined economic impact is usually 3–5x of the contract value, fully measurable inside the first 6 months of operation.
Case study highlight: NorthStar NVOCC
A New Jersey-based NVOCC grew transpacific container volume 3.1x in 14 months with a dedicated 22-person Operanta operations pod — rate filing, FMC compliance documentation, container tracking, customer escalations and AR follow-ups — without adding a single local seat. Annual operational savings: USD 1.4M. On-time documentation delivery climbed from 82% to 98.5%. Customer expansion from 4 origin offices to 11. Zero compliance escalations to FMC over the period.
Why US logistics leaders choose Operanta
- Dedicated FTE model — never a pooled call centre
- Trained on US trade regimes: CBP, FMC, FDA, USDA, EPA, CTPAT, TSA
- Native English with American business hours and overnight coverage
- ISO 27001-aligned controls, MFA, encrypted endpoints, controlled-access facilities
- Senior team lead with 8+ years of US freight operations experience on every desk
- Weekly scorecards and monthly business reviews with US leadership
United States — frequently asked questions
Are you a licensed US customs broker?
No — and we are deliberate about this. Operanta is the operational engine that prepares the data; your licensed broker retains professional responsibility for filings. This separation keeps your compliance posture clean and your professional indemnity intact.
Can your team work US Eastern / Central / Pacific business hours?
Yes. We run rotating shifts to deliver overlap with US Eastern, Central and Pacific business hours, including overnight coverage. Many clients route US Friday-evening BL releases to our Saturday-morning desk.
Do you handle FMC OTI compliance?
We support the operational and documentation side: tariff filings, amendments, service contracts and audit-ready archival. Licensed advice remains with your in-house counsel or external OTI compliance attorney.
Where is your data hosted?
Inside your TMS and your systems. Operanta does not host customer shipment data. Our specialists log into your environment using your user licences.
Do you have US client references?
Yes. References are provided after the discovery call to qualified prospects under NDA.
Operanta x US logistics — built for the most demanding market in the world.
Book a 30-minute call. We will review your US workflow, propose a team size and outline a 60-day plan.