Industry Description
Establishments primarily engaged in furnishing shipping information and acting as agents in arranging transportation for freight and cargo. Also included in this industry are freight forwarders which undertake the transportation of goods from the shippers to receivers for a charge covering the entire transportation, and, in turn, make use of the services of other transportation establishments as instrumentalities in effecting delivery.
Business Examples
Common types of business activities within US SIC 4731 - Arrangement of Transportation of Freight and Cargo are:
- Agents, shipping
- Auditors, freight rate
- Brokers, shipping
- Brokers, transportation
- Consultants, tariff
- Customhouse brokers
- Customs clearance of freight
- Domestic forwarding
- Foreign forwarding
- Freight agencies, railroad: not operated by railroad companies
- Freight consolidation
- Freight forwarding
- Freight rate auditors
- Freight rate information service
- Shipping documents preparation
- Tariff consultant
- Tariff rate information service
- Transport clearinghouse
- Transportation rate services
IBISWorld Industry Research Report
Freight Forwarding Brokerages & Agencies in the US (48851)
Revenue 2025
$127.7bn
Growth 2025
2.11%
Key Trends
As total US trade volumes have increased, demand for international freight services that require brokerage has risen
Operators have benefited from growth in emerging markets and key trade partners
Domestic freight volumes will climb, boosting industry demand
Products and Services
US-SIC Hierarchy 4731 - Arrangement of Transportation of Freight and Cargo
US-SIC Code 4731 - Arrangement of Transportation of Freight and Cargo sits in the 2-digit Arrangement of Transportation of Freight and Cargo sector. US SIC codes can be 2 to 8 digits and the further along the hierarchy, the more detailed and specific the category will be.
Division: E
Division Title: Transportation, Communications, Electric, Gas, and Sanitary Services
2 Digits 3 Digits 4 Digits
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411 Local and Suburban Passenger Transportation
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412 Taxicabs
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413 Intercity and Rural Bus Transportation
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414 Bus Charter Service
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415 School Buses
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417 Terminal and Service Facilities for Motor Vehicle
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421 Trucking and Courier Services, Except Air
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422 Public Warehousing and Storage
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423 Terminal and Joint Terminal Maintenance
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431 United States Postal Service
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-
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441 Deep Sea Foreign Transportation of Freight
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442 Deep Sea Domestic Transportation of Freight
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443 Freight Transportation On the Great Lakes-st.
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444 Water Transportation of Freight, Not Elsewhere
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448 Water Transportation of Passengers
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449 Services Incidental To Water Transportation
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451 Air Transportation, Scheduled, and Air Courier
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452 Air Transportation, Nonscheduled
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458 Airports, Flying Fields, and Airport Terminal
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461 Pipelines, Except Natural Gas
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472 Arrangement of Passenger Transportation
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473 Arrangement of Transportation of Freight and Cargo
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474 Rental of Railroad Cars
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478 Miscellaneous Services Incidental To Transportation
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481 Telephone Communications
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482 Telegraph and Other Message Communications
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483 Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations
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484 Cable and Other Pay Television Services
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489 Communications Services, Not Elsewhere
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491 Electric Services
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492 Gas Production and Distribution
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493 Combination Electric and Gas, and Other Utility
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494 Water Supply
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495 Sanitary Services
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496 Steam and Air-conditioning Supply
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497 Irrigation Systems
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Extended US-SIC Hierarchy for 4731 - Arrangement of Transportation of Freight and Cargo
For business marketing and targeting, US SIC Codes have been extended to provide more specific classifications within US-SIC 4731 - Arrangement of Transportation of Freight and Cargo. Extended US SIC Codes are being continuously updated to reflect the current business environment.
6 Digit SIC Codes
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473101 Transportation consultants
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473102 Freight-consolidating
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473103 Foreign trade consultants
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473104 Freight-forwarding
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473105 Brokers-motor transportation
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473106 Freight-traffic service
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473107 Containerized freight & cargo service
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473108 Brokers-merchandise
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473109 Freight-bill audit
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473110 Customs consultants
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473111 Freight brokers & agents
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473112 Transportation lines
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473113 Customs brokers
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473114 Trade clearing exchanges
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473115 Tariff bureaus
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473116 Truck-permit service
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473117 Permit service-transportation
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473118 Routing service-air, highway, marine
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473119 Freight-traffic managers
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473120 Cotton shippers
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473121 Publishers-shipping service
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473122 Interstate commerce commission prctnrs
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473124 Truck-transport preparation
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473125 Trucking consultants
8 Digit SIC Codes
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47310000 Freight transportation arrangement
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47310100 Transportation agents and brokers
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47310101 Agents, shipping
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47310102 Brokers, shipping
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47310103 Customhouse brokers
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47310104 Truck transportation brokers
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47310200 Freight forwarding
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47310201 Domestic freight forwarding
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47310202 Foreign freight forwarding
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47319900 Freight transportation arrangement, nec
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47319901 Customs clearance of freight
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47319902 Freight consolidation
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47319903 Freight rate information service
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47319904 Railroad freight agency
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47319905 Shipping documents preparation
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47319906 Transport clearinghouse
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