If your business involves importing or exporting freight, you’re likely working with a freight forwarder. Importing and exporting goods takes more than transporting a good from one country to another. It involves packaging products, clearing customs, and insuring goods in case something happens. Hiring an international freight forwarder specialize in forwarding goods internationally and can ensure the necessary steps are taken to get your packages to their destination safely and legally.
Freight refers to the method used to ship goods and does not explicitly refer to the types of goods being shipped. There are four standard types of freight:
- Air Cargo (airplanes)
- Ocean Freight (cargo ships)
- Rail (trains)
- Road (trucks)
International freight forwarders are burdened with the responsibility of arranging the intermodal transportation and customs clearance of goods on behalf of shippers. Without freight forwarders, shippers would be faced with a huge logistical burden that would be detrimental to the global market’s overall productivity. You can also think of freight forwarders as travel agents for your goods, helping you find shippers and coordinating their delivery to you.
Freight forwarding is a situation whereby a company takes full responsibility for most or all the shipping-related steps in the logistics process on behalf of a client. This process can include order fulfillment, consolidating items, managing customs brokerage, handling documentation following shipping regulations, and more.
Each countries’ customs law may vary, so freight forwarders handling the customs paperwork is another benefit to you. The logistics team will usually work with international customs agents or brokers who specialize in clearing customs in different countries. When a freight forwarding company has a large network of specialists and agents they work with, they can be more efficient in getting your goods through customs without any hiccups.
Shipping goods internationally takes a lot of paperwork. It’s important that your company uses the proper documentation for various tasks and legal protection.
What can a freight forwarder do for you?
- Minimum limit of supply chain disruptions
- Cost savings though getting best freight rates
- Excellent customer service
- Cargo tracking
- Compliance to trade and shipping laws
- Risk assessment and Management
- Tailored shipping support
- Networking
Whenever you decide to use major freight forwarder, you are banking an agency that you can trust, and who can be a partner to your overall success. Therefore, selecting the right freight forwarder can help you optimize your supply chain, cost efficiency, delivery, and timeliness. That partner is Edas Global Supply Chain Limited.
Let’s start the journey now.