NOTE TO ALL On all cargo going long distances, the shipping companies have a distribution centers at main ports for continuious lanes. These points are called transhipment points. The trade lanes can be hard to follow and there are direct routes (no stopping too). But for example, most cargo coming from North and South America go to Hong Kong for transhipment and then from there feeder vessels fan out to other nations. For cargo headed to North America, there's Kingston, Jamaica and Panama. In Europe, its Rotterdam. Vessels have a manifest All cargo coming into the United States must be cleaned through US Customs at a bonded warehouse. An entry from must be filed via a Customs House Broker. I vaguely recall a story about a customs agent from the ICE team killing himself and leaving a scathing letter about the atrocities he saw while employed. I would need to look for it again. Once a container clear customs, truckers pIck theme up for delivery to warehouses around the US. They can also be delivered right to the rail. Union Pacific and Norfork Southern are your two to look at. You will have better luck asking questions among trucling outfits or dock workers. You can look for the names of importers and exporters under the Federal Maritime Commission, which provides comprehensive list. If traffickers are not operating an NVOCC, they need to hire one to arrange the freight. I assume they would not hire because then they would not control the records. To access more detailed info, its big bucks via the PIERS report where you look at custom entriies. Air Cargo is managed via the TSA. I am gonna bet it's mostly done via Mexico and driven into the USA thanks to NAFTA. And who is responsible for NAFTA? Our buddy Bill Clinton.