Aloha Freight Forwarders

What Aloha Freight Forwarders does

Aloha Freight Forwarders is a privately held freight forwarding company founded in 1956 that specializes in domestic offshore shipping between the US Mainland and Jones Act destinations — Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam. The company operates as a specialist intermediary, consolidating cargo and arranging ocean freight transportation for businesses and individuals shipping between the lower 48 states and these regulated domestic offshore territories. The firm maintains physical terminal infrastructure in Carson, California (the mainland hub, relocated from Compton in April 2026), Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tacoma, Washington to support pickup, consolidation, and distribution operations.

The company's core technology is a freight forwarding and logistics management platform with a web-based customer portal that provides shipment visibility (shipping milestones, document images, cargo photos), online rate quotes, cube calculation, pickup requests, fuel surcharge tracking, and transit schedules. Aloha Freight partners primarily with Matson Navigation Company as its exclusive Hawaii steamship line carrier (twice weekly sailings from Long Beach, CA) with Pasha Hawaii as an alternative carrier. Service offerings include LCL (Less than Container Load) and FCL (Full Container Load) ocean freight, temperature-controlled shipping (frozen, chill, ambient), and door-to-door delivery from anywhere in the lower 48 states.

The business model is transaction-based freight forwarding fees (base ocean freight plus pass-through fuel surcharges from carriers). Pricing is custom and quote-based, not publicly disclosed. Aloha Freight employs 1-10 people across its three offices and operates under CEO Seiji Aspengren. Marketing and customer acquisition are conducted through the company website, direct sales, email communications by department, and a Facebook social media presence. Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Aloha Freight Forwarders

Legal name

Aloha Freight Forwarders

Website

https://alohafreight.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1956

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Aloha Freight Forwarders is a privately held, Honolulu-based freight forwarder founded in 1956 that arranges LCL, FCL, and temperature-controlled ocean shipping between the US Mainland and Jones Act destinations (Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam), serving businesses and individuals via terminals in Carson CA, Honolulu HI, and Tacoma WA.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Freight Forwarding Services

NAICS

Freight Transportation Arrangement (48851)

SIC

Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731)

akta.pro primary industry

FCL (Full Container Load) Ocean Forwarding (TLACABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Reefer/Temperature-Controlled Ocean Forwarding (TLACABAI), Ocean Export Forwarding (Booking/VGM/SI/BL) (TLACABAF), Ocean Import Forwarding (Destination Handling/DO/ISF) (TLACABAE)

Keywords

• Freight forwarding services
• Ocean freight shipping
• LCL consolidation services
• FCL container shipping
• Temperature-controlled shipping

Headquarters

HQ city

Honolulu

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Freight Forwarding Services: The company generates revenue through freight forwarding fees for shipping services between the US Mainland and Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam. Services include LCL (Less than Container Load), FCL (Full Container Load), and LTL/LCL consolidation. Pricing includes base ocean freight plus fuel surcharges which are passed through from steamship lines like Matson.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Aloha Freight Forwarders is a specialist freight forwarder providing ocean shipping services between the US Mainland and Jones Act destinations (Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam) since 1956. The core offering includes LCL and FCL ocean freight, LTL/LCL consolidation, door-to-door service, and temperature-controlled (frozen, chill, ambient) shipping, supported by an online customer portal for rate quotes, pickup requests, shipment tracking, and document access.

Product overview

Aloha Freight Forwarders offers a unified freight forwarding platform with specialized domestic offshore shipping services between the US Mainland and Jones Act destinations (Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam). The core offering includes LCL and FCL ocean freight services with temperature-controlled options (Frozen, Chill, & Ambient). The company provides an integrated suite of customer-facing digital tools including a Customer Portal for shipment tracking, online Rate Quotes, Cube Calculation, Pick Up Request scheduling, Fuel Surcharge tracking, and Transit Schedule access. Services are supported by dedicated teams at California, Hawaii, and Washington locations with twice-weekly sailings out of Long Beach, CA.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Freight Forwarding Services Core ocean freight forwarding service for businesses and individuals moving cargo between the US Mainland and Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam under Jones Act-compliant domestic shipping.
• Ship to Hawaii Dedicated ocean freight service for cargo transportation from any of the lower 48 states to Hawaii, with twice weekly sailings out of Long Beach CA via Matson.
• Ship to Alaska Dedicated ocean freight service for cargo transportation to Alaska destinations, supported through the Tacoma WA office that serves Washington and Alaska markets.
• Ship to Guam Ocean freight service from all lower 48 states to Guam with expedited customs clearance.
• Frozen, Chill, & Ambient Shipping Temperature-controlled ocean freight available for cargo requiring frozen, chilled, or ambient conditions, available in both LCL and FCL with twice-weekly sailings from Long Beach CA.
• LCL (Less than Container Load) Service Consolidation service for smaller shipments that are combined with other cargo into shared containers, originating primarily from the Carson CA mainland receiving facility.
• FCL (Full Container Load) Service Full container ocean freight service available from anywhere in the US to and from Hawaii, covering both westbound and eastbound loads.
• Door-to-Door Service End-to-end pickup-and-delivery service from origin through final destination, with shipment visibility milestones, document images, and cargo photos available via the customer portal or email.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Matson Navigation CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMatson Navigation Company is Aloha Freight Forwarders' primary steamship line partner for Hawaii service. They provide ocean freight transportation with twice weekly sailings out of Long Beach CA. Aloha exclusively uses Matson for their Hawaii shipments, passing through Matson's fuel surcharges and rate adjustments to customers.
• Pasha HawaiiminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPasha Hawaii is an alternative steamship line partner mentioned for Hawaii service. They perform resets of Fuel Adjustment Factors in tariff PHHD 006 governing cargo movement between the US and Hawaii.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Matson Navigation Company: Matson is Aloha's exclusive primary steamship line partner for Hawaii service but is also a broad incumbent that operates vessels and increasingly sells directly to shippers in the same Hawaii/Alaska/Guam lanes. It is comparable as both a capacity supplier and a competitive threat for direct customer relationships.
• Flexport: Flexport is a large, technology-forward digital freight forwarder offering ocean, air, and trucking services globally. While it operates at vastly greater scale, it competes for the same ocean freight forwarding wallet share and is reshaping shipper expectations around digital tools where Aloha must compete.
• Kuehne+Nagel: Kuehne+Nagel is one of the world's largest freight forwarders with significant ocean forwarding operations. It is comparable to Aloha in core ocean forwarding activity but operates globally and at vastly larger scale, providing competitive context for forwarder economics and pricing.
• C.H. Robinson: C.H. Robinson is a major US freight broker and 3PL arranging ocean, air, and truck freight for shippers. It is comparable as a freight transportation arrangement business serving similar US importers/exporters, though it operates at national scale rather than Jones Act specialization.
• Expeditors International: Expeditors is a global logistics company arranging ocean and air freight forwarding. It is comparable to Aloha in core ocean forwarding and customs brokerage activity but at global scale, representing the type of established incumbent Aloha competes against for larger shipper accounts.
• DSV: DSV is a global transport and logistics company with major ocean and air freight forwarding operations. Comparable to Aloha in core freight forwarding activity, operating at vastly larger scale and serving as a benchmark for forwarder consolidation trends.

Direct peers

• Pasha Hawaii: Pasha Hawaii is Aloha's secondary carrier partner and a direct competitor in Hawaii ocean freight services, operating roll-on/roll-off and container services between the US Mainland and Hawaii. Like Aloha, it serves Jones Act destination shippers and competes for the same Hawaii-bound cargo.

Regional players

• Old Dominion Freight Line: Old Dominion is a leading LTL carrier in the US. While Aloha is primarily an ocean forwarder, OD competes for the LTL pickup leg that feeds Aloha's Carson LCL consolidation, making it an adjacent operational comparable for the trucking leg of the Jones Act lane.
• Saia Inc. Saia is a US LTL carrier serving primarily the Southern and Western US. It is adjacent to Aloha in providing the trucking leg that feeds Aloha's LCL consolidation at Carson, and operates in similar Pacific Coast geographies.

Emerging players

• Forward Air: Forward Air is an expedited LTL and logistics services provider with freight forwarding capabilities. It is comparable to Aloha as a US-focused multimodal freight services provider, though Forward Air leans toward expedited ground and less-than-truckload rather than Jones Act ocean.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/AlohaFreight
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aloha-freight-forwarders

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aloha Freight Forwarders