For the past year I've used Nippon Express. They sometimes come through - I've had last-minute ocean-to-ground transfers rescued by a rep - but just as often paperwork or a customs lag leaves my drivers sitting idle. I'm a West Coast dispatcher with about 30 trucks, so reliability matters; it's hit-or-miss enough that I won't count on them for tight windows.
Bottom line: Nippon Express gets freight moved but didn't feel like an upgrade over my old carrier. Their tracking and paperwork were cleaner than what I used to deal with, which was nice, but I spent more idle time at their yard and the turnaround wasn't as tight - time is money out here. After nine years driving in the Northeast I'm honestly torn: better documentation helps, but until they speed up the yard side I won't be switching full-time.
Bottom line: Nippon Express’ customs brokerage cut our import dwell time by nearly 48 hours and kept a production line from stalling. We had a last-minute ocean shipment with mismatched documentation and their broker spotted the issue before the vessel even docked, got the amended docs pushed through and cleared customs the same morning. I manage a 50-truck fleet in the Northeast and after 18 years you stop being easily impressed, but that kind of proactive action saved us overtime and detention fees. Their status updates were short and blunt - no fluff - which made it easy for our yard coordinator to plan. Five stars for the customs team; if you move time-sensitive parts, this is the part of their service that actually pays for itself.
Their customs brokerage cleared a container faster than I expected and that saved me an extra trip. I run a small owner-operator outfit in the Pacific Northwest, and what usually turns into a 24-hour headache was handled same-day so I kept my schedule. Pickup scheduling at the yard could be tighter - had to wait an hour - but the quick clearance makes Nippon Express my go-to when I’m dealing with imports.
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