A gateway balancing module for balancing shipments of a plurality of containers between a plurality of associated gateways includes a determine demand subcomponent, a calculate containers subcomponent, a determine capacity subcomponent, and a generate balance recommendations subcomponent. The determine capacity subcomponent is adapted to determine available de-consolidation capacity for each of the plurality of associated gateways. The generate balance recommendations subcomponent is adapted to provide a user with a gateway balancing recommendation based upon a comparison of the handicapped gateway demand and the de-consolidation capacities of each of the plurality of associated gateways.