The leg where the brand is blindest.
Air, sea and road from the factory into your warehouse. It is the longest stretch of the chain, the most expensive, the one that decides whether your season lands on time, and the one where your own visibility is usually a booking reference and an email.
Air, sea and road freight, quoted per lane and rebilled at the negotiated carrier cost.
Our role on a freight lane.
We are not a freight forwarder. We do not own vessels, aircraft or trucks, and we do not hold a brokerage licence. We arrange the freight through the partners who do, and we keep the item identity on the goods the whole way. You stay the principal on the transport contract.
Booking under one contract
One relationship instead of a tender per season. Freight is rebilled at the negotiated carrier cost with zero markup, as a pass-through line on the same invoice as everything else, so software and freight never share a line.
Consolidation that is visible
Consolidation is where inbound visibility usually ends, because the unit of tracking becomes a container. The identity minted at the purchase order survives it, so you still know which units are in which box.
Customs holds you can see
Brokerage stays with the broker on the lane. A hold becomes a status against named items on a date, visible on day one.
Every item keeps its own identity inside the container.
Freight systems track consignments, while your business runs on items. That gap closes when each item has an identity before the consignment exists.
The inbound sequence.
The points where the thread is picked up, and the data it carries at each one.
Purchase order raised
Identities are reserved against the order. From here the items exist in the record even though nothing has been made yet.
Goods ready at the factory
The ready date is a status against named items rather than an email with a spreadsheet attached. When it moves, the downstream plan moves with it.
Booked and consolidated
The consignment is created, and the items inside it keep their identity.
In transit and through customs
Milestones and holds land against the items as well as the booking reference, so an exception names the stuck items and the orders they affect.
Warehouse arrival
The site already knows the incoming items and their arrival date. Receipt reconciles against the order and the shipment, at item level, at the dock.
Related pages.
Questions we get asked.
Is Next Horizon a freight forwarder?
No. Next Horizon does not own vessels, aircraft or trucks and does not hold a brokerage licence. It arranges the freight through the partners who do, and carries the item identity through the shipment. You stay the principal on the transport contract. The physical move belongs to the partner.
Which freight modes do you cover?
Air, sea and road from the factory into the warehouse, including inbound from Asia into Europe, quoted per lane.
How is freight priced and billed?
At the negotiated carrier cost with zero markup, as a pass-through line on the same invoice as the subscription. Next Horizon earns on the subscription rather than on freight margin.
What happens to item visibility during consolidation?
It survives. The identity minted against the purchase order exists before the consignment does, so items stay individually addressable inside a consolidated container instead of collapsing into a single tracked box.
Do you handle customs brokerage?
No. Brokerage stays with the broker on the lane. With Next Horizon, a customs hold appears as a status against named items on a date, so you find out the day it happens.
Can I use my own forwarder and still get the visibility?
Yes. The identity and the thread do not depend on who books the freight. Where you keep your own forwarder, the milestones are read from their system against the same item identity.