Airways Freight Corp. Uses Informational Web Site

“Functional” and “fast” are the hallmarks of Airways Freight Corp.’s freight forwarding services, and the same can be said for its Web site.

At www.airwaysfreight.com, Internet surfers learn that Airways excels at time-sensitive cargo deliveries that might traverse land, air or sea and include anything from set equipment for Broadway productions to same-day delivery of critical computer hardware.

Airways is a nonasset-based freight-forwarding company that handles the operational aspects of shipping through existing resources in the transportation industry.

Most impressive are Airways’ international services, which manage all aspects of shipments from letters-of-credit to customs.

The site debuted in 1997. It was designed and is administered in-house.

Airways’ techies told us because independent agents across the country handle the company’s sales, it has no need to solicit business online. The site does contain an interactive element for the agents, which allows them to book service through its pages.

Logistical software also provides real-time shipment tracking that’s updated from Airways’ mainframes for both parties.

But www.airwaysfreight.com primarily is intended to serve as an information center that can help build name recognition and educate customers. When the site does produce business calls, Airways directs them to the closest field agent to the customer.

So there is no mass market e-commerce really taking place on the site. The company does not even monitor its Web traffic, its techies said, because that information would be meaningless to its business.

Airways has accomplished its goal of creating an informative site with this version, but the aesthetics could use some work. The design at times appears helter-skelter, and it’s not always clear which list of subjects is functioning as the menu.

The corporate e-mail directory was about as jumbled and difficult to read as it gets, but we think that was only a shot-term glitch.

We also think that because of Airways’ intense business model, there are probably good success stories to share. We found one short testimonial on the site that included a customer’s claim that Airways helped trim its shipping costs from $2.5 million annually to $1.2 million, but it wasn’t clear how.

We simply found ourselves wanting to know more, which is not necessarily a bad thing.