Living in the times of online shopping, most of us have purchased items online at least once, even if we strictly identify with those who like to scour the shops physically for their desired item of choice. There is sometimes little choice available, like when businesses only have an online presence. If you are a business owner whose work often involves the shipping of cargo nationwide or to other nations across the oceans, then choosing the right freight forwarding solution is the way to go. Be it via bus, rail or the sea, shipping container transport would be a breeze, leaving you with the task of resting easy whilst keeping a check on your traveling cargo. Are you looking to save some money by handling it all yourself? Freight forwarding solutions are indispensable for the efficient transportation of goods and let us outline why.

Knowledge Is Power

A freight forwarding agent knows his way around to be able to plan an efficient transport route. Since they are in the business, they are well-versed with the required paperwork and legal documents for the station or port that the freight reaches or passes through. This is why hiring a freight forwarding solution ensures that you save on extra costs, time and hassle. In case of any transport emergency or breakdown of communications, the agent would know alternate routes, and put a backup plan in action, so your client does not lose time. Since freight forwarders function as intermediaries between the merchant selling the goods and the transportation services, they will handle and arrange for the carrier and customs both. To you, they are the ones safely ridding you of your cargo and depositing it with your contact or buyer, along with insurance services in the possibility of any damaged products.

Paperwork

The freight services provide clients with ancillary services like the bill of lading and the freight bill, important documents that provide an accurate summary and make for excellent record-keeping. The legal documents are good for presentation in court too. They also make it their job to know about the nitty-gritty of customs so you don’t have to.

The bill of lading is a contract between the carrier and the owner of the merchandise, which the client requires as proof in order to be able to take possession of his cargo. The freight bill or commercial invoice is simply a receipt of goods, an important piece of paper outlining the value of goods necessary for determining the value of duty when clearing from customs. This is produced by the seller for the buyer.

The Certificate of Origin or COO is a statement that outlines the place of origin of an export commodity. With certain goods, an Inspection Certificate is also a necessary document that relates whether or not the items in a freight have been inspected for health and damage. Some items of trade have to be cleared by the government in order to be shipped to a particular destination, and in such a case, the Export License is produced by the government for a presentation where necessary.

Finally, there’s the Shipper’s Export Declaration (SED) prepared via the US Postal Service for freight exceeding $500 in value, and the Export Packing List that itemizes the details of the cargo along with its value. All these produced carefully by your freight forwarding solution.

Preparing for Shipment

One of the multiple services provided by freight forwarders includes packaging of items and getting them ready for transport. This is also dependant upon the mode of transport in use. For instance, items being shipped via the ocean would need to be in boxes heavy enough to hold their own, however those being flown to places in an aircraft would have to have lighter packaging. Safe packaging that protects from turbulence and jostling due to bad weather, or extreme temperatures is true for both cases. Then there are items that have special packaging requirements because of the nature of their fragility or due to customs, and that is taken care of by the freight forwarder. Of course, cargo traveling within the country, or meant to be traveling straight, short distances would not have intricate packaging requirements compared to those that travel via multiple ports, since the latter would be loaded and unloaded quite a few times.

Labeling

Freight packaging also consists of itemized lists as mentioned above, along with pertinent details like the country of origin, nature of the cargo, care required, hazardous substances if any, correct weight, and any required handling outlined in the language of the destination country/port.

Storage

It is a freight forwarder’s responsibility to plan for the appropriate warehousing needs of the cargo. Traveling merchandise may need to be stored for variable time periods, and each stop must be planned for in advance. Every item has its own specific storage needs that must be catered to, and this is noted for by the freight forwarding solution.

Transport Medium

When traveling long distances, your freight has to have a safe and stable transport vehicle and efficient drivers that take it to its destination unharmed. It is the duty of a forwarding solution to have such vehicles at the ready and trained drivers at their disposal. If they have a limited number of container ships and container aircraft or none, then they commission other carrier companies for taking freight over the seas and monitor it via logistical software. In any case, they are equipped to handle your freight better than you because it is their business to do so. As per the WTO, global trade accounted for USD16 trillion in 2015, where shipments via container were about 1687 million tonnes. Along the route, theft, fraud, abandonment, and damage of freight does take place, which may hinder a business owner from employing a freight forwarding solution. But we must note that these are events that are liable to take place even if you take care of everything yourself, which is quite difficult. Such events damage a forwarding solution’s business and reputation quite a bit so they set up safety measures in place that a layman to the business might not be capable of.

Conclusion

When your in-house resources at hand are not experienced at handling cargo shipment, storage, or documentation, then a freight forwarding solution will save you from a lot of headache, and potential risk. You get reliable transportation at competitive rates because the freight forwarders are working in a market with other great service providers. If your business only deals in any one medium from road, rail, air or sea, then choose a service provider who excels in that particular medium.