AMI ' the world's largest trade-only freight wholesaler ' has opened its fifth office in the USA, at Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) Airport. The new branch is the company's first USA expansion since it acquired the UAC business and its four US offices in April 2007.

AMI DFW will serve the airfreight communities of both Dallas and Houston, and will initially concentrate on airport-airport and express-to-door exports using the many direct air services operating from the airports.

The DFW office will also provide imports services focusing on traffic originating from its 15-strong owned office network outside the USA; AMI now has operations in Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, the UK, South Africa and Germany.

Managing the new facility will be Bryan Moog, who has spent 18 years in airfreight, and was previously employed for 11 years in the Chicago office of AMI and its US predecessor UAC. AMI DFW will publish its own highly competitive tariff exclusively for the local market, following the trend set in all other AMI US stations.

Says Peter Burn, AMI's VP Americas: 'Texas is attractive to us right now because the market remains relatively unaffected by the current global downturn. At the same time, it is a natural addition to our geographic coverage of the USA, and will provide a springboard to further expansion in the southern states.

'AMI Dallas represents a new opportunity for agents in this region to tap into our major purchasing power, while saving time on vetting deals and placing cargo with carriers. We are very confident that the AMI concept of neutral consolidation will have a strong appeal to this market, as agents look for better deals for their shipper customers, and smarter ways of utilizing their resources and containing their operating costs.'