Panalpina, the Basel, Switzerland-based freight forwarder, launched its U.S. domestic airfreight service last month, introducing one more player into the door-to-door delivery game.

The global forwarder says it will subcontract with domestic airlines and trucks to offer four classes of time-definite service in the United States: "NOW," for rush delivery via air or ground; Priority, for next-day shipping; Standard, for second-day shipping; and Economy for delivery within three to five business days.

Panalpina's entry into the U.S. domestic market is expected to increase competition. "Every time you have a new entrant into the market it's another option," says Brian Clancy, a principal with MergeGlobal, an Arlington, Va.-based transportation consulting firm. The forwarder's international customers, moreover, will provide a ready-made market for the new service, he says. "Panalpina is one of the five largest forwarders in the world, so what you have is a well-known brand name internationally, and their objective is to cross-sell their international customers. Those same customers generally have domestic freight transportation requirements."

Cary Dittman, Panalpina's regional vice president of marketing and sales, confirms that assessment, and says that with the new service underway, his company's international customers will be able to book international and U.S. shipments with end-to-end, single-source control.

Dittman says that Panalpina was already handling much of the domestic transportation for international shipments moving across the country to gateway airports. "We've handled a lot of the [domestic transportation] business along the way as it is. So now it's just the volumes. It's a real open, fragmented market out there, so we're going to take advantage of that to build our market share."