Once you have decided AWD is worth using, the operational side is straightforward — **it works almost exactly like inbounding to FBA.** There are two places it differs, and both matter.

[Watch the walkthrough](https://kb.trackiq.com/kb-assets/kbvideo-awdship-explainer-8f395f78.mp4)

*Prefer to watch? One hundred and sixty-three seconds on checking regional restrictions before you build a shipment, the partnered-carrier discount, and replenishing FBA in time.*

## **Where it lives**

**Menu → Inventory → AWD (Warehousing and Distribution).**

**Three things happen here:** view inventory, track shipments, create shipments.

## **Creating a shipment into AWD**

**Identical to a normal FBA inbound.** Enter the boxes you are ready to send, create labels, ship.

**The one real difference is destination.**

### **Regional destinations, and their restrictions**

**AWD assigns you to a region** — East Coast, West Coast, South Central or Southeast — and each has its own acceptance rules, which change as the network expands.

**In practice this has meant pallets to some regions and parcels to others**, with some regions closed to new shipments entirely.

**So check the current restriction before you build the shipment**, not after. Discovering your region will not take parcels when the boxes are already labelled is an expensive afternoon.

**Choose Amazon-assigned unless you have a reason not to**, and let Amazon tell you where the inventory should go.

**And know your freight position.** If you are using Amazon's own freight the cost is unaffected by which region you are sent to. **If you are shipping independently, the destination changes what you pay** — so a region assignment is a cost decision, not just a logistics one.

## **The fee lever: use an Amazon-partnered carrier**

**Storage and processing fees are lower when the inbound is Amazon-managed.**

**Choose a partnered carrier at shipment creation.** It is a one-click difference at setup and a permanent difference on every unit stored — see [**Is AWD Cheaper?**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/is-awd-cheaper).

## **Viewing what is there**

**Inventory → Warehousing and Distribution** shows, per product:

**Units at AWD.**

**Units in transit.**

**Units with errors.**

**Watch the errors column.** It is the only place some receiving problems surface before they become missing inventory — see [**AWD Reimbursements**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/awd-reimbursements).

## **Moving inventory from AWD onward**

**Move from AWD**, then select the products.

**Two destinations:**

**FBA** — the normal replenishment path.

**A retail or distribution partner** — add the channel and Amazon ships to them.

**You get a cost before you confirm**, which is the number to check against your own freight alternative rather than accepting by default.

**Track outbound shipments in the same place.** They also appear on the normal FBA Shipments tab once they are moving, so you are not tracking them in two systems.

![Inventory position across AWD and FBA](/kb-assets/shot-prod-table-6c206b.png)

**Once inventory sits in two places, "how many units do I have" stops being one number** — see [**Monitoring Inventory Against Sales**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/monitoring-inventory-against-sales). Cover calculations that ignore AWD stock will tell you to reorder when you already hold three months of it.

## **How replenishment changes your planning**

**AWD is a buffer, not a warehouse you forget about.**

**Your FBA cover calculation now has a second lead time in it** — the AWD-to-FBA replenishment, which is days rather than the weeks an overseas shipment takes.

**Which is the whole point.** You can hold less in FBA, avoid FBA storage fees on slow-moving stock, and still replenish quickly — see [**Inventory Forecasting and Purchase Orders**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/inventory-forecasting).

**But it only works if you actually trigger the replenishment in time.** Stock sitting in AWD while the FBA listing goes out of stock is the worst of both arrangements — see [**Going Out of Stock**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/going-out-of-stock).

## **Common mistakes**

**Building a shipment before checking the region's current restrictions.**

**Not choosing an Amazon-partnered carrier**, and paying higher storage and processing fees permanently.

**Ignoring the errors column** in the inventory view.

**Counting only FBA units** when calculating cover.

**Treating AWD as long-term storage** rather than as a replenishment buffer.

**Leaving replenishment too late**, and going out of stock with inventory 200 miles away.

## **Related**

- [**What AWD Is**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/what-awd-is) — whether to use it at all.
- [**Is AWD Cheaper?**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/is-awd-cheaper) — the cost comparison this operational work rests on.
- [**AWD Reimbursements**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/awd-reimbursements) — reconciling what you sent against what arrived.