What you need to know when you choose a freight forwarding company
For many companies who rely on shipping to get their products on the market, finding a good freight forwarder is an essential part of their infrastructure. A freight forwarder will help to keep all of your incoming and outgoing shipments organized, which can help to increase your overall productivity and efficiency.
Many business owners lack the time to plan out every shipment for their company, which is why freight forwarding companies can be helpful. Whether sending (export) goods or receiving (import) an equipment purchase, a company can benefit greatly from hiring a freight forwarding company.
The following are a few tips to use when trying to find a freight forwarder for your business.
Assess Your Needs
One of the first things that you need to do before deciding on a freight forwarder is to assess the needs that you have as a company. The more you know about what you need, the more you will be able to tell prospective freight forwarders about what you need for them.
If you have a large amount of incoming and outgoing shipments, then you will need to find a company that can facilitate your workload. Hiring a company that is too small to handle your needs will end in disaster, so be sure to do your homework.
Connections are Key
Another thing that you have to consider when hiring a freight forwarder is the type of connections that they have within the shipping industry. You never know where your business journey will take you and having a freight forwarder that can grow with you is important.
Most freight forwarders have connections in methods of air transport and ocean freighters, which can help you when you start to grow and expand your business. The more you prepare for the future; the better off you will be when it comes time to expand your business.
Level of Experience
When looking for a good freight forwarding company, you need to evaluate the level of experience that each prospective company has. The more experience that they have, the better they will be able to serve the needs that your business has.
You want to find a company that knows how to think on their feet, just in case all shipments don’t go according to plan. Generally, the longer that a company has been in business, the better their quality of work will be. Also, if a company has been in business for a long time, it’s safe to assume they do good work.
By paying freight forwarding experts, you will be able to reduce the amount of stress you have to deal with.
Guest post by John Pallister a freelance marketer for freight forwarding services..Â
these are some really great tips, luckily, the freight forwarding services i always go for meet them all without asking.
Like!! Really appreciate you sharing this blog post.
It’s important to know about the freight forwarder network and agents. Thanks for sharing this article.
I agree, assessing your company’s needs is the first thing you should do before choosing a freight forwarding company. For example, if you need international shipping then you need to make sure that the service offers that. Even if they do offer international forwarding then you need to contact them and ask about how much that shipping will cost.
Very good
Very nice post. Thanks for sharing.
Good article and help us a lot.
I do not agree with this sentence: “Hiring a company that is too small to handle your needs will end in disaster, so be sure to do your homework.”
My company was established in 2014, we are small. We have handled shipments of big volumes, we have bid with Multinational company and our Ãndice of problems is zero. We manage the shipment very carefully with regular follow ups to our customers and have had excellent feedbacks.
I think the size of company is not a recipe of successful shipments. We sometimes listen that many importers prefers small companies to have a better support.
We intend to be bigger in a future but without loss the professionalism.
Paulo, totally agree with you, must of my “big” clients they do prefer “small” companies that can actually offer a most dedicated follow up to their shipments.
What forwarding company do you represent? It might be interesting to get in touch with you for future cooperation.
One thing it is also very critical is whom is in front of you listening to your needs and traslating them into a good service. Sales representant is a key figure in coordinating all cargo and logistic services according to your needs, so he/she needs to have good experience in suggesting the right path to importers and exporters. Logistics are usually refer as the “art of anticipation” and the representative MUST know all possible scenarios that could or could not developed within a shipment so the client can take better decisions and, by doing so, reduce costs
Thanks for your contribution Julian.. True statement about the sales representative being the key figure in the eyes of the customer..
I can not agree more, Julian:D. With the help of good sales/customer representative, you can sit back and focus on expanding your business.
Great article as always!
Nice article.
There are various USP’s also when it comes to choosing a right forwarder/partner & one very important one missed out is the forwarders IT systems & its integration with Clients IT systems which play a crucial role in assessing & aligning your business activities so that both can be associated on a more long term basis fruitfully. This aspect provides more visibility & efficiency in the entire end product delivery process.
Thank you for your inputs Rajesh..
Here’s a thought if you want expertise: go directly to the carrier who actually operates the route. No need to worry about things ending in disaster then.
Hello Shipping Line, you mean cut out the freight forwarder completely and all customers deal directly with the shipping line..??
excellant information…
Very useful thanks
Dear Mr Hariesh
i am totally agree with the above article . and i know how much Freight forwarders co fight to service their clients , in lines , it is not easy to contact them to ask them about any information , also the most of services of lines for big clients , so i prefer to deal with FF especially lcl shipment , also the price i think FF provide the clients with best Freight rates and give them credit
Thanks
Hassan
Thanks for this article.