Honest comparison
Delta Novel or Expeditors? Both answer with a person.
On people-first we agree with them completely. The difference is what sits in front of the people: live rates you can search right now, a copilot that answers in thirty seconds, and a portal for everything else.
Expeditors is the institution of people-first forwarding: headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, founded in 1979, more than 20,000 employees across 335-plus locations in 100 countries. They say it plainly on their own pages — people at the center, technology as the enabler — and after nearly five decades of operational discipline they have earned the sentence. On the people half of this comparison, we are not going to argue with them.
Delta Novel makes the same promise through a different front door. Behind every file there is a Ravenna operator who answers by name, and an in-house Italian customs desk — import, export, transit, T1, AEO-aligned. In front of them there is what Expeditors does not offer self-serve: live FCL, LCL and air rates on covered lanes you can search without an account and book online, a copilot that answers about your shipments in thirty seconds before handing you to that operator, and one portal for booking, tracking and documents. People first — platform also.
Side by side
| Delta Novel | Expeditors | |
|---|---|---|
| Instant quote without an account | Yes — live FCL, LCL and air rates on covered lanes, bookable online | No self-serve quote; entry points are tracking, location lookup and the EXP.O NOW login |
| AI copilot on your shipments | Yes — answers in about thirty seconds, then hands off to a named Ravenna operator | Technology pages describe predictive control and dashboards; the word AI does not appear |
| A person who answers by name | Yes — a Ravenna operator on every file | Yes — people-first is their stated hallmark |
| Customs brokerage | In-house Italian desk: import, export, transit, T1, AEO-aligned | Deep global bench — over 3,000 customs employees worldwide |
| Global scale | Correspondent network on the lanes that matter to you | Stronger — 335+ locations in 100 countries, since 1979 |
When Expeditors is the right choice
If you are a multinational moving complex flows across dozens of countries, want a single NYSE-listed partner with a customs and compliance bench around the world, and count on decades of drilled operational discipline more than on self-serve tools, Expeditors is a strong choice. We would rather tell you that than win a file we are not the best home for.
Questions people ask
Is Delta Novel people-first like Expeditors?
Yes — that is the part of their pitch we agree with entirely. Every Delta Novel file has a Ravenna operator you know by name. The difference is what sits in front of the person: live rates, online booking, a tracking portal and an AI copilot that answers in thirty seconds, then hands you to that operator.
Can I get a rate without an account or a phone call?
With Delta Novel, yes: live FCL, LCL and air rates on covered lanes, bookable online. On expeditors.com there is no self-serve quote — the entry points are shipment tracking, a location finder and the EXP.O NOW login. When a lane of ours is not covered, a forwarder replies within one business day.
Expeditors has thousands of customs specialists. Why use Delta Novel for customs?
Worldwide, their bench is genuinely deep — over 3,000 customs employees by their own count. Delta Novel's desk is Italian and in-house: import, export, transit and T1, AEO-aligned, in the same office as the operator running your file. If your compliance question is Italian, the answer sits down the hall, not in another time zone.
Search a live rate now — no account, no call, thirty seconds. The person behind it, you will meet on your first shipment.
Get an instant rateExpeditors facts from expeditors.com as of August 2026. Expeditors is a trademark of its owner; Delta Novel is independent and unaffiliated.
All company and product names are trademarks of their respective owners, used here for identification only. Delta Novel is independent and unaffiliated. Competitor information comes from each company’s own public website as of August 2026 and may change.