Roberto Lopez
President & founder
Started the company in 1992 with a customs bond and the lanes he already knew, and has run it every year since. Thirty‑four years later he is still the one who decides when a shipment needs an exception.
Since1992
Express Freight International, Inc.Medley, Miami FL 33166Family owned since 1992
Since 1992, the same family has answered the call.
Roberto Lopez started Express Freight International, Inc. in 1992. His family still owns it, it still runs out of one building in Medley, and the person who can authorize an exception sits down the hall from the person who takes your call.
34
Years in business
Since 1992
35
Destinations in the Americas
8
Published lane guides
56
Weekly LCL lanes
50,000
Sq ft bonded CFS
Medley
18
Dock doors
Two ramps
4hrs
Quote turnaround
Monday–Friday, in hours
FMC
Licensed & bonded OTI
Number on request
01Who answers
There is no account management layer.
Call us about a booking and you reach somebody who can see the whole file. If it needs an exception, the person who can authorize one is in the same building, not in a region office three time zones away. That has been true since 1992 and it is most of what separates us from a company with a bigger logo.
A brokered ocean move putsa brokera forwardera consolidatora warehousea truckera destination agentbetween you and the ship. Through us there is EFI.
Same box, same ship, one phone number. Every handoff you remove is a handoff that cannot go wrong.
Michelle Lopez
Vice President
Second generation of the family in the business. Runs the commercial side, from pricing and carrier relationships to the accounts that have been shipping with us for decades.
DeskPricing & accounts
Raul Valdes
Operations Manager
Runs the floor and the fleet. Receiving, consolidation, container loading and the trucks, plus the systems that keep a file findable the moment somebody calls about it.
DeskFloor & fleet
And behind them
An accounting desk, a warehouse manager, and the crew that receives, checks, builds and loads every container that leaves this floor.
One building, and everyone in it works for the same company.
And we’re hiring
Join our family
That’s the part we can’t hire around. We look for people who want the whole job: the file, the box, the customer on the phone. Not one lane of it.
Applications take about eight minutes, in English or Español. They save as you go, every one gets read, and you’ll hear from us inside five business days.
Apply to work hereWhere we hire
- Warehouse & dock
- Operations & documentation
- Accounting & admin
- Truck drivers (no CDL)
No résumé? Apply anyway. The form asks what you’ve done and what you can run. Upload one only if you have it.
Office hoursMonday–Friday, 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM ET
7950 NW 77th Street, Unit 1 · Medley, Miami FL 33166. Equal opportunity employer.
02What is ours
Five of the six things that happen to your cargo are ours.
Ours5 of 6
01Our truckcollects
02Our floorreceives
03Our benchconsolidates
04Our bill of ladingcarries
05Our export filingclears
06The shipnot ours
Our truck collects it. Our floor receives, checks and consolidates it. It sails on a bill of lading with our name on the carrier line, and the export filing is done in‑house rather than handed to a third party.
We do not own a ship and we are not going to pretend otherwise. We buy under our own service contracts with King Ocean, Seaboard Marine and Crowley. The space is committed to us, so it is committed to you.
03The building
One floor, one fleet, and contracts with the lines that serve our lanes.
Past where those three reach, we tell you exactly who is touching your cargo next. We have never been the largest forwarder in Miami and have never tried to be.
50,000sq ft bonded CFS
The floor
Eighteen dock doors, two ramps including a double‑wide for oversize, ground‑level receiving, storage, consolidation, container loading, and crating to ISPM 15 on our own bench.
Warehousing & distribution
4miles, our dock to the MIA ramp
The fleet
Box trucks we own and maintain, and our own bonded drivers. Port and airport recovery, in‑bond moves, pickups and deliveries across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Past that we arrange FTL and LTL and tell you who has the load.
Trucking & ground
56weekly LCL lanes
The lanes
LCL consolidations and FCL bookings on carrier contracts we hold ourselves, plus air freight out of Miami International. Every lane has a published cutoff and a sailing day you can plan against.
Ocean freight7950 NW 77th Street, Unit 118 dock doors2 ramps, one double-wideBonded container freight station
04The register
Five credentials, and whether a stranger can check them.
FMC licensed OTI
Licensed ocean transportation intermediary
The Federal Maritime Commission licenses and bonds the intermediaries that handle U.S. ocean cargo. Ours covers us as an NVOCC, which is what lets us issue our own bill of lading and be the carrier rather than a booking agent.
Public registerSearch the FMC OTI list · license number in writing on request
C‑TPAT
Customs‑Trade Partnership Against Terrorism
CBP vets the facility, the access controls, the personnel screening and the container inspection procedure, and reviews it rather than granting it once. Your cargo sits behind vetted access while it is on our floor, and C‑TPAT status generally means fewer and faster CBP examinations.
In writingConfirmation letter for your vendor file, on request.
Bonded
Bonded CFS and bonded carrier
Two things that work together. The Medley floor is a bonded container freight station, so in‑transit cargo can be received and deconsolidated before entry is filed. Our trucks and drivers are bonded, so that cargo moves in‑bond between the terminal and this building. Fewer moves, fewer chargeable days.
In writingOn request.
TSA IAC
Approved Indirect Air Carrier
Air cargo leaving the United States has to be tendered by an approved party before an airline will load it. We are an approved Indirect Air Carrier, so freight is built and tendered already inside the chain of custody. That is the difference between making the cutoff and finding out at the counter.
TSA IACMSThrough TSA's system, or in writing on request.
DG certified
Dangerous goods trained, recurrently
Certification renewed on the schedule the regulations require rather than once at hire. Classification, segregation, marking, labeling and the declarations that go with hazardous cargo by air and by ocean. Somebody reads your safety data sheet before the booking goes in, not after the line refuses the freight. See the segregation checker and dangerous goods consulting.
CertificatesOn request.
05Straight answers
What people ask before they send us freight.
Operations answers the phone Monday–Friday, 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM ET. If your question is about a lane, a cutoff or a commodity we have not listed, ask it directly.
Is EFI a freight forwarder or an NVOCC?
Both, depending on the shipment. On ocean cargo moving under our own bill of lading we are a non‑vessel‑operating common carrier, licensed and bonded by the Federal Maritime Commission as an ocean transportation intermediary. On air freight and on the documentation side we act as a forwarder, arranging carriage and filing on your behalf. We will tell you which one applies to your booking.
How long has the company been in business, and who owns it?
Since 1992, so thirty‑four years as of 2026. Roberto Lopez founded it, and it is still privately held by the same family that started it.
Can I verify your licenses before I ship?
Yes, and you should. Our FMC ocean transportation intermediary license appears on the Federal Maritime Commission's public OTI list. Search the company name and it comes up. We send the license number itself in writing rather than publishing it. C‑TPAT participation, bonded status and our TSA Indirect Air Carrier approval can all be confirmed in writing for your vendor file.
Do you handle imports, or only exports out of Miami?
Both. Our bonded CFS and bonded trucks exist largely for inbound cargo, receiving and deconsolidating and moving in‑bond freight before entry is filed. Ocean and air move in both directions, and customs clearance on U.S. imports is managed in‑house, with the entry filed by the licensed customs broker we work with.
Is there an online tracking portal?
Not for tracking. Status comes from customer service on request, and the person answering can see the whole file rather than one scan event. Our customer portal is for looking up your documents and warehouse receipts, with photos. We track our own trucks live by GPS, so while your freight is on one of them we can tell you where it is.
Where are you, and when are you open?
7950 NW 77th Street, Unit 1, Miami, FL 33166, in Medley, four miles from Miami International and a straight run down the Dolphin to PortMiami. Monday–Friday, 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM ET. Mail goes to P.O. Box 668201, Miami FL 33166.
06Start here
Send us the shipment you are least sure about.
Tell us what it is, where it is going and when it has to be there. You will get a real answer from somebody who has moved that lane before, including, sometimes, that we are not the right company for it.