What is a Freight Forwarder, and what do they do?

Freight forwarders are important in transporting goods from one place to another in an online business. They are a third-party logistics provider that ships goods on behalf of their clients to another shipping company so that the goods reach the customers on time. A freight forwarder links transportation companies that import and export goods and businesses that need them. 

They help make import and export goods across international orders feasible and cost-effective. These freight forwarders manage everything from storing the goods before shipment to custom clearance. Let us understand how freight forwarders can be useful in growing the online business and their role in the transportation industry.

What do freight forwarders do?

They have the responsibility to make arrangements for the shipment of a company. They connect with transportation companies to assist their clients in delivering goods across domestic and international borders. They help to bring down the procedural complexities in moving the goods from one place to another and, of course, the cost. Let us understand some of a freight forwarder’s activities for the client.

• Select the transportation companies to move the goods overseas.
• Collect all the documents in this regard.
• Entering into negotiations to reduce the transportation costs
• Store the goods before their shipment
• Applying for insurance whenever found necessary.

How can Freight Forwarders Help Your Business?

Freight forwarders can be a true asset to any business. They make it easy for clients to ship their goods in bulk through a transportation company. The client is no longer required to enter contracts with various transportation companies to ship the goods to different areas. A freight forwarder acts on behalf of his client to monitor the shipment process of the goods and communicates with their clients to update them on the progress of every shipment. There are different ways in which freight forwarders can help an online business grow. Let us explore these one by one:

Reduced shipping costs

Freight forwarders usually possess many goods entrusted to them by the client. They also maintain a healthy relationship with all the transportation companies. Therefore, they are better positioned to negotiate rates with transportation companies and demand bulk discounts for handling large orders. In addition, they are conversant with the most cost-effective options across all the means of transport. With the help of these freight forwarding services, the goods can be moved at a low cost.

They usually combine small shipments into one large shipment, reducing overall shipping costs. Most importantly, they undertake various activities on behalf of the clients, such as packaging, labelling and documentation. Therefore, the cost of compliance is also reduced in this way. That is why freight forwarders are the pillars for the growth of the online business, as they help reduce costs and increase the online business’s profitability.

Faster shipping

The freight forwarders are conversant with the complications in the transportation industry. Therefore, they help to opt for the easiest and fastest ways to ship the goods across the orders. They help to transport the goods through the safest means. They understand the nature of the goods and the distance of the place of production from the target market and hence opt for the fastest modes of transportation. 

They undertake to fulfil all the regulatory compliances, such as customs, to avoid delays. They constantly track the movement of the goods towards the transportation companies and the target markets. Therefore, they can easily detect delays and laches and take measures to fix them.

Comply with custom regulations. 

Custom regulations are very complex and time-consuming. Many clients do not understand the process and commit mistakes. This results in the imposition of huge penalties and delays in the transportation process. Therefore, it is important to hire freight forwarders in such a situation. They are conversant with custom clearance processes. They complete the documentation and submit it to the concerned authorities on time. They apply for all the licenses required for importing and exporting the goods. They are in contact with the best logistics company to receive the shipment of the goods. They guide the clients through confusing custom clearance procedures. They handle every issue that arises during the process of customs clearance.

Conclusion 

Therefore, as an online seller, freight forwarders can be extremely useful for moving your goods across borders. These intermediaries are the clients’ agents and undertake everything from storing, warehousing, packaging, labelling, clearing and transporting the goods to the transportation companies. They have the expertise to monitor the movement of the goods properly without delay. They ensure the goods arrive on time and in good condition to the target market. They are worth the cost and help to expand online businesses very easily. Therefore, it would be right to conclude that the movement of goods might become impossible without these freight forwarders.