About Customs Release Group
Marcus Caldwell founded Customs Release Group in Seattle in 2016, after ten years at Expeditors International, the Seattle-based freight forwarder. His last few years there he ran Asia-Pacific carrier operations, which meant a lot of time in the numbers: lane efficiency, emissions factors, the economics of slow-steaming versus expedited ocean freight. The industry position at the time was that clients wanted speed and cost, full stop. Marcus disagreed, not on principle, but on trajectory. Scope 3 reporting was coming. Carbon border adjustments were coming. The retail brands manufacturing in Southeast Asia were going to need a freight partner who could give them actual data on their inbound emissions, not just a competitive rate on a 40-foot container. He left Expeditors at the end of 2015 and spent six months building out the compliance and reporting infrastructure before taking on the first client.
The early client base was small-to-mid-size US apparel and home goods brands with factories concentrated in Ho Chi Minh City and the surrounding Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces. They shared a problem: their freight was moving fine, but they had no visibility into the emissions profile of their inbound supply chain and were starting to get questions from retail buyers they couldn't answer. We built the reporting layer first and the brokerage operation around it.
In 2018 we opened the Ho Chi Minh City office, which now runs eleven people under operations director Linh Nguyen. Having staff at origin changed the operation materially. ISF filings are more accurate when someone has eyes on the factory floor before the container closes. Discrepancies get caught before they become CBP holds. That office handles origin coordination, pre-shipment document review, and the carrier booking side for all HCMC-origin freight.
The Seattle office has grown to 28. The client base spans apparel, home goods, and consumer electronics. The emissions accounting thesis that looked early in 2016 is now a standard client requirement.
How we operate
We are a licensed customs broker and freight forwarder with a single-office structure on each end: Seattle for US customs clearance, drayage coordination, and client reporting; Ho Chi Minh City for origin operations. We do not broker work to third-party agents at origin. That is the main structural difference from how most mid-size forwarders operate, and it is the reason our ISF accuracy and document turnaround times are what they are.
On the brokerage side, we file our own ISFs, prepare our own entry summaries, and handle HTS classification in-house. We do not outsource classification to entry writers who have never seen the product. For clients with complex product lines, we maintain a running HTS log with binding ruling references where they exist. CBP inquiries and CF-28s are handled by licensed brokers, not customer service staff.
Emissions reporting is built into the standard client package. Every bill of lading generates an emissions record: ocean carrier, vessel, lane, TEU-miles, estimated CO2e per shipment. We calculate using IMO-recognized emissions factors and flag intermodal alternatives where the lane economics support it. Clients use this data for Scope 3 disclosures and, increasingly, to satisfy retailer supplier requirements.
We run a relatively small book of clients by design. The average client relationship is four years. We do not take on accounts where we cannot staff the origin coordination properly.
Accreditations and standards
Customs Release Group has held C-TPAT Tier 2 status since 2019. C-TPAT participation affects our clients directly: C-TPAT-certified importers receive reduced examination rates and expedited processing lanes, which matters most on high-volume seasons where exam delays compound quickly.
We are a licensed US customs broker (CBP license held by Marcus Caldwell, individually, since 2015). All entry preparation and filing is performed or directly supervised by licensed brokers. We do not operate a brokerage-as-a-service model where licensed personnel are removed from individual transactions.
Customs Release Group received B Corp certification in 2021, covering our environmental performance, worker practices, and supply chain accountability standards. We recertify on the standard three-year cycle. The B Corp assessment is available on request for clients who include supplier certifications in their ESG disclosures.
Customs Release Group is a member of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA). NCBFAA membership covers our licensed brokers and freight forwarders on staff and provides access to CBP regulatory updates, industry training, and peer escalation resources for classification and compliance questions.
We comply with UFLPA due diligence requirements for all shipments with origin or component exposure in the covered regions. Clients manufacturing in Vietnam with any upstream material sourcing requiring UFLPA documentation receive a compliance checklist and pre-shipment document review as part of the standard origin coordination workflow.
The team
Marcus Caldwell, Founder and CEO. Marcus spent ten years at Expeditors International before founding Customs Release Group in 2016, including several years running Asia-Pacific carrier operations. He holds an individual CBP customs broker license and has been working Southeast Asia freight lanes since 2011. He is based in Seattle and travels to Ho Chi Minh City three to four times a year. LinkedIn
Linh Nguyen, Operations Director, Ho Chi Minh City. Linh joined Customs Release Group when the HCMC office opened in 2018 and has led that team since 2020. She came from a freight forwarding background in HCMC, with previous roles at Kuehne+Nagel Vietnam and a regional textile exporter. She oversees origin coordination, carrier booking, and pre-shipment document review for all Vietnam-origin freight. Her team handles the practical reality that most ISF problems start at the factory, not the port. LinkedIn
Dana Reyes, Director of Compliance and Classification, Seattle. Dana joined in 2019 and runs HTS classification, binding ruling research, and CBP correspondence. She came from a Big Four trade advisory practice where she focused on customs valuation and tariff engineering for retail importers. Dana manages the compliance layer for clients navigating UFLPA requirements and Section 301 exclusion filings. LinkedIn