The Wayfarer-class medium transport was designed by Kuat System Engineering to compete against the popular YT-series of light freighters. In an effort to provide an innovative and versatile competitor, KSE designed the Wayfarer with a detachable cargo module that would allow the freighter to quickly change its cargo, decreasing the time spent loading and unloading cargo in a port. KSE offered a variety of options for the detachable module, including models designed for passengers, starfighters, vehicles, or purely cargo space. The cargo model of the module actually allowed for starfighters and vehicles, just without the specialized equipment, and became the most popular design.

When the Wayfarer made its public debut, it came with a rather unusual design: the ship itself was narrow and slender on the starboard side with a rounded back that arced towards the port for the engines. On the port side, the cargo module jetted out from the aft section of the ship, protruding even further than the starboard cockpit and substantially limiting the view of the pilot. The cargo module opened on its forward and aft ends, allowing cargo to be quickly shuttled in one side and out the other.

During its time, the Wayfarer transport was considered a jack of all trades by logistical personnel, with its standard cargo module able to haul any mixture of cargo, starfighters, and vehicles. The module itself was detachable to allow for quick cargo changes at starports, but smugglers and other criminals quickly realized that this allowed them to easily dump cargo when the threat of inspection arose. The Wayfarer also sported a quad heavy laser turret on its topside with a single heavy laser on the bottom, granting it the ability to defend itself even without launching any starfighters it may be carrying.

While the Wayfarer's design could have been extremely successful, its designers overlooked an extremely crucial aspect of galactic shipping when they created it. The majority of cargo containers in the galaxy fit a standard design despite a vast variety of manufacturers - in spite of this, the Wayfarer transport did not accept the standard cargo container design and instead only the proprietary Kuat Systems Engineering module, designed specifically for the Wayfarer, could be used. Whether this was purely a mistake on KSE's part or they intended to replace every cargo container in the galaxy is an issue for debate, but this single design flaw prevented the Wayfarer from achieving serious commercial success and becoming an actual competitor to the YT-series freighter. Had the Wayfarer accepted the standard Class A through Class J cargo containers, it likely would have exploded in popularity. On top of this, the YT-series still outclassed the Wayfarer in speed with their superior hyperdrive and sublight engines.

The Wayfarer can still be seen operating in commercial shipping lanes throughout the galaxy, though in extremely limited numbers. A few logistics companies opted to run only the Wayfarer and its unique cargo containers, helping to prove the design's merits of quickly changing cargo containers, though none of them ever managed to become hugely successful. Outside of commercial shipping, some organizations have modified the transport into assault shuttles for mercenaries, while pirate groups have utilized disguised Wayfarer transports to launch their starfighters and attack unarmed transports.