Reasons Why Hiring An International Freight Forwarder Is Beneficial To You

All About Freight

Before you dive into the depth of freight, you have to be familiar with freight forwarding. You might have never heard of cargo, but you must have heard about travel agents, haven’t you? International freight forwarders are nothing but travel agents for shipment. You can say that freight forwarders take the responsibility of the communication between the exporter and importer, and of the transportation’s details, to ensure the secure delivery of the goods to their rightful destination.

It will be easier for you to understand the freight forwarding system if we use the term ship. Everyone is familiar with the word shipping; people who purchase or sell goods online know about it very well. In simple words, International freight forwarders are the people who ship the products from the buyer to the seller's address.

How Do International Freight Forwarders Work?

You might have always wondered how you receive your packages from a place far away from your location. Haven’t you ? Let's answer your questions by explaining the process of goods leaving the seller and reaching the buyer.

International freight forwarders do their job in a process mace of a total of ten steps. The first thing the freight forwarders do is to determine the credibility of their potential clients. Once selected, they move forward to the medium of transportation or freight the client wants, such as air, ocean, rail, or truck. Then they identify the size and dimension of the cargo, review documents, and schedule transportation if everything goes right. After that, they cut the bills for landing, observe the cargo's movement, and inform the notified party when the shipment reaches its destination. Lastly, they arrange the delivery to the buyer and hand over the invoice to the client. This is how the entire work process of International freight forwarders is built.

The Ten Steps Of Freight Forwarding

It is important to understand that most freight companies do not own airplanes, steamships or big trucks to transport the goods and act as go-between for all the multiple parties involved in the process of import and export of goods. 

Working with International Freight Forwarders simplifies all the matters for both buyers and importers. This is because the companies handle critical factors, such as tracking the arrival of all the cargo vessels, contacting various airline and truck companies, further communicating and coordinating with the clients and so on. This, as a result, ensures the arrival and the pickup of goods right on time. The process of Freight Forwarding is divided into ten main steps which mainly are the following:

• Determine the credit
• Establish a transportation mode
• Determine the dimensions and weight of the containers required
• Review all the documentation
• Schedule further transportation
• Lading bills are cut
• The movement of the cargo is to be monitored
• Contact the notifying party as soon as the cargo reaches the destination place 
• Arrange delivery for the final destination
• Finally, create an invoice in the client's name

Importance Of Hiring International Freight Forwarders 

International Freight Forwarders are an essential part of the world economy and have a key role in every country as they are the sole providers of goods and services to their final consumers. Here are the dimensions in which they play an essential role:

• Networking: freight forwarders help in building and maintaining friendly relationships between shippers, officials, carriers as well as other forwarders, along with facilitating expeditious shipments. Besides, they limit the friction between supply chain stages and add a bottom-line value to it. 
• Negotiating: some effective forwarders can easily find a balance between appeasing all trusted relationships and practicing all the savvy trade deals, even if it requires keeping the business open to receive bids from other carriers. 
• Inventory management: it comprises the most significant pieces of the supply chain by entailing the arrangement, maintenance as well as storage of inventory. It also includes business support in other areas, including purchasing and production.
• Scheduling: all the forwarders are tasked to book cargo space with more than one transportation mode, and it demands coordination of all the entities that are within a supply chain, including suppliers, manufacturers, carriers, etc. 

Conclusion

Freight refers to all the goods transported from one place to another, by any means of transport. With world trade being the sole reason for the functioning of nations, International Freight Forwarders manage the pulse and ensure the working of the process altogether. They act like a travel agent that carries the cargo and further coordinates all the transportation details that take place between international buyers and sellers, along with ensuring that the goods reach the place they should be. On top of that, here are some freight forwarding job openings that you might find interesting