Hey everyone, if you’ve ever spent time navigating the wild world of FBA shipping, you know how easy it is to get tripped up on small, make-or-break details—like whether your 3PL actually has the warehousing muscle to back up their "FBA-focused" promises. As someone who’s been a core supplier for US FBA Headway Transportation for the last four years, I field this question all. The. Time—from new Amazon sellers still figuring out their first 1,000-unit restock to veteran sellers who’ve bailed on providers that cut corners on storage and end up with stuck inventory. Let me pull back the curtain on what I actually see day-to-day working with their ops team. US FBA Headway Transportation
First off, let’s clear the air: No, they don’t just ship boxes—they’ve got dedicated, purpose-built warehousing that’s tailored exactly to FBA sellers’ pain points. Early on, when I partnered with them in 2020, they only had a single 50k sq ft space outside Chicago that was mostly for overflow LTL shipments. But they listened—sellers kept asking for reliable storage that didn’t force us to book separate warehouses or juggle multiple providers—and they’ve expanded big time since then. Last year alone, they added two more hubs: one near Atlanta for Southeast-based sellers (cuts down cross-country transit) and a smaller one in Dallas for folks shipping to West Coast FBA nodes. Total dedicated FBA-focused storage? Around 180k sq ft now, split across those three spots. That’s not just a random garage—this is climate-controlled for stuff like skincare or supplements, pallet racking that meets Amazon’s strict pallet specs, and even a dedicated small-pick zone for sellers with small goods (like phone cases or stationery) that don’t fit standard pallets.
I see this firsthand every single day. As a supplier, I drop off inventory directly to their loading docks, and the first thing their warehouse team does is run a quick check to make sure every pallet is labeled with the exact FBA prep code, ASIN, and unit count. No wasted time here—they’re not just throwing boxes in a corner. They use a basic but solid WMS (that’s warehouse management system, for anyone new to this) that syncs directly with Amazon Seller Central. That means when I book a shipment, their team already knows my FBA prep needs—like if Amazon requires unboxed items in poly bags, or specific pallet stacking heights—and they’ll handle that prep on-site if I don’t want to do it. I once had a last-minute inventory rush for a holiday product, and their team had my 500 units sorted, labeled, and on a pallet for FBA delivery in less than 4 hours. Most providers would’ve made me wait 24+ for that, no cap.
But let’s be real—no warehousing is perfect, and I’ve seen a few tiny hiccups with Headway. Last quarter, I had a shipment that got mis-sorted in the Chicago hub because a part-time temp mixed up two sellers’ pallet tags. The team fixed it within an hour once I flagged it, but that’s the kind of little slip-up that makes sellers nervous. What I like is how they own it—they don’t hide it, and they adjust for it. They’ve since added a second round tag check for peak times, so that mistake almost never happens now. Another thing: their storage rates are competitive, but they’re not the absolute cheapest—you get what you pay for, right? If you’re a seller flipping cheap t-shirts, maybe a super cheap provider works, but if you’re a brand with high-value inventory that can’t get lost or damaged, Headway’s warehousing is worth the extra few bucks per pallet.
Wait, let’s talk about what makes their warehousing different from other 3PLs that claim to do FBA. A lot of providers will “offer” warehousing as an afterthought—like they rent a random space and subcontract the work, so you don’t have oversight. Headway’s warehousing is in-house. The ops managers are full-time, not contractors, and they’ve all been trained specifically on Amazon FBA rules—no more dealing with someone who doesn’t know that Amazon won’t accept pallets over 48 inches tall. I’ve seen other suppliers I talk to complain that their old 3PL sent pallets with wrong labels, and Amazon rejected the whole shipment, costing them hundreds in penalties. I’ve never had that happen with Headway because their team is on top of FBA requirements.
Another big one: pick-and-pack for split shipments. A lot of sellers don’t just send a full container of one product to FBA—they might send 20 units of Product A to one FBA warehouse, 30 of Product A to another, plus 15 units of Product B to a third. With Headway’s warehousing, they can do that pick-and-pack right on-site, no extra fees for smaller orders. I had a client last month who needed that exact setup, and they did it all for a flat rate, no hidden costs. Most other providers would charge an arm and a leg for that, or make you handle it yourself.
I should also mention the downside, because I don’t want to sell anyone a bill of goods. If you’re a micro-seller with less than 50 units a month, Headway’s minimum storage might be more than you need. Their smallest monthly plan is around 100 sq ft, which is fine for most mid-sized sellers, but if you’re only shipping 10 units every couple months, you’re probably overpaying. Also, their Dallas hub is newer, so sometimes peak times (like Q4 holiday season) have a slight wait for last-minute drop-offs. But that’s true for almost every major 3PL, right? No one has unlimited capacity during the busiest months.
Here’s the thing that makes me keep working with Headway: their warehousing ties directly into their shipping, so I don’t have to coordinate between two separate companies. I book the whole shipment—storage, prep, FBA delivery—all through one contact, and that contact updates me every step of the way. Last year, during the Amazon Prime Day rush, I was stressed because my shipment was running late, but their team pulled strings to get it prepped and out to FBA in time, and I didn’t get any negative seller feedback or lost inventory because of it. Other times, I’ve had providers that lose track of inventory, and I’m stuck filing claims that take weeks. Headway’s WMS tracks every pallet, every unit, so claims are resolved in 72 hours max.
If you’re still on the fence, here’s my honest take: For FBA sellers, warehousing isn’t just a “nice to have”—it’s the backbone of your shipping strategy. If your provider’s warehousing is garbage, your whole operation falls apart. I’ve been in this space long enough to see sellers go from making $10k a month to $100k a month just because they picked the right 3PL with solid, dedicated warehousing. Headway’s not perfect, but their warehousing is tailored specifically to FBA, their team knows the rules, and they’re consistent. That’s more than I can say for a lot of other providers I’ve worked with over the years.
If you’re a seller looking to lock in your next shipping partner, don’t hesitate to reach out to their team—they work with suppliers and sellers across the US, and they can walk you through exactly what their warehousing plans look like for your specific inventory needs. No hidden fees, no confusing jargon, just straight talk about what they can do for you. And if you have questions about how they handle specific products or peak season shipping, their ops team is actually available to chat, not just hidden behind a support ticket queue.
US FBA Ocean Freight Reference List
- US FBA Headway Transportation. (2023). 2023 FBA Warehousing & Logistics Service Overview. Internal Operations Documentation, Chicago, IL.
- Amazon Seller Central. (2022). FBA Palletization and Prep Requirements for Third-Party Logistics Providers. Retrieved from internal training materials for US FBA Headway Transportation.
- National Association of Retail Logistics. (2024). Mid-Size E-Commerce FBA 3PL Performance Report. Industry Analysis of 12 U.S.-Based 3PLs, including US FBA Headway Transportation.
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