It’s essential to partner with a freight forwarder that fits your import-export operations.
7 Tips For Choosing Good Freight Forwarder For Your Company
1)Find a Forwarder with the Right Experience
When it comes to a freight forwarder’s experience, there are a few things to be aware of. For example, if you’re dealing with import and export customs, you need to know if your partner has the industry knowledge to navigate laws and regulations in both the country of origin and destination. Working with a freight forwarder who has dealt with the changes over the years will reduce mistakes, and ensure your freight is safely delivered to customers and suppliers. Working with an experienced company will provide you with peace of mind that your cargo is being handled professionally, with care, and can arrive on time to the destination.
2)Maintaining Good Relationships is Important.
Freight forwarders owe a lot of their success to their ability to forge good relationships. The same can be said about the relationship between you and your forwarder. Pick a Forwarder with the Right Services for Your Shipments. There are a few things you can do to ensure you keep a good relationship with your freight forwarder, and here are the two most important in our opinion:
Make bookings with advance notice: Requesting a last-minute booking too often can deter forwarders from trusting you as a valued customer. Bookings with little advance notice can be inevitable, but as long as you communicate with your forwarder and minimize bookings close to departure dates, you can maintain a solid relationship
Manage your documentation: Keep your cargo documentation organized and accessible for your forwarder. This will allow for efficient bookings and shipping
4) Interview Any Potential Freight Forwarding Companies
Just like choosing any vendor or hiring an employee, choosing the right logistics company should begin with a detailed interview. While experience is a great way to weed through the competition, speaking with the forwarding company representatives and completing due diligence will allow you to determine if they are a good fit for your industry.
5)Make Sure They Offer Cargo Insurance
So you’ve found a forwarder with transparent pricing, the 3PL services you require, and you have mutual trust. However, you now need to think about one last issue, and that’s cargo insurance. If you want peace of mind and risk-reduction, then it’s essential to purchase cargo insurance that provides coverage for shipping by land, sea, or air against the possibility of loss or damage to your shipment.
6)Ask for References
Sometimes competitors provide the best information. This is especially true when choosing the right freight forwarding company. A good provider will work with similar companies to yours – and sometimes your direct competition. While it’s not best practice to ask your competition who they work with, it is very smart to ask the logistics forwarding company for references. If possible, ask them to put you in contact with companies with similar needs as you will require – and don’t be afraid to ask hard questions.
7) Don’t choose freight forwarding companies based on price.
In short, moving freight around the world is a complex process. It involves many different procedures which can often go wrong and cause issues throughout the supply chain. If you choose the cheapest freight forwarding service you will not receive the level of service that you need and their team will often lack industry experience and knowledge on how to solve these problems quickly. Choosing a freight forwarding service based on the cheapest price will cost your business more in the long run.
Leave your freight shipping worries to us. ABDUi assists with air freight, sea freight, and Land freight. Be it large volumes of cargo, containers, LCL, FCL, or just a few kilos – we can help! Our expertise over the years has helped many businesses grow. In addition to shipping, we also assist with customs clearance, import and export trade, and other related services. Evaluate our quote today with ABDUi!