How to Choose a Freight Forwarder
by Samuel C. Customs AdvisorWhether you’re a large business and a frequent importer or a
small business planning for your first international shipment, choosing the
right freight forwarders are vital. Ensuring that your valuable goods are in
dependable hands to carry forward is really important and thus it’s worth time
and attention to find good forwarding agents.
Freight Forwarders
Freight forwarders work as middlemen between the transportation
services and shippers. They are responsible for arranging the entire process of
shipping and logistics of goods from one end to another. They are experts in
this process and may involve in the ocean or air freight forwarding. Some of
them have reached to a limited number of countries while some provide services
globally. They may prepare documents like customs bonds CA, arrange
payments, and may help in clearing customs as well.
There are numerous freight forwarders available and not all
of them are alike in terms of better service and feasibility. So we have put
together some important tips in this article to let you choose the right
freight forwarders effectively.
Experience
Make sure that the professional is experienced enough. With
experience, your professional can deal with various situations, such as port
shutdowns and dockworker strikers, just to name a few. Aside from this,
experienced professionals can help you deal with warehousing, customs bond, and other routine issues.
They can guide you about how to be in compliance with laws and regulations and
what to do when you know you have violated a rule.
Services
You hire them for the services you specifically need. So
make sure before hiring you have properly pondered upon what you need. For
example, some importers hire them to fulfill customs bond requirements. The freight forwarding company you supposed to choose for your
next shipment should have enough agents and capability to handle additional
needs like packaging, storage, cargo movement, trucking, insurance, and others.
Make sure they offer a valid tracking option or give you an easy contact method.
Network
Ideally, you should go with a freight forwarder who has a
solid network in the countries where you are going to do your business. If you
are going to ship to Canada, for instance, make sure that your freight
forwarder has connections in that country. Otherwise, you may have problems
down the road. Furthermore, it’s better to know whether they have experience of
posting continuous import bond or they maintain connections with other
customs brokers or surety companies.
Good References
When you start searching for freight forwarders, you can
compare key factors like experience, services, prices, and references.
References are truly significant that a company with a greater number of
positive references should be your preference. You can read reviews and
comments on their social media accounts and see how many customers are happy
with their services. Like if someone has said that he’s not convinced with continuous import bond service. If you
notice poor feedback from existing customers you can avoid.
Ask Some Questions
Freight forwards maintain connections with a broad network
of logistics providers and supply chain professionals. They allow easy shipment
from one country to another and possess the necessary tools, staff, and resources.
One of the key things you should look for in freight forwards is customer
service. Because you will not be there to preserve and oversee your goods,
neither will you deal with customs agents to verify customs bonds, you should make sure they politely answer all your
initial questions in timely fashion.
·
How many years they have been in the business?
·
How can they help you in customs clearance?
·
Do they possess license?
·
How many clients like you they have dealt with
in the past?
·
Freight rates?
·
Do they provide any medium to track your cargo?
These are some important questions you can ask before hiring
freight forwarder. Your products are valuable and it can be risky to trust
someone for freight who is not responding appropriately. Make sure you follow
the tips given in this article.
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Created on Nov 1st 2019 05:21. Viewed 349 times.