7 Qualities to Look for When Choosing a Freight Forwarding Service
0 October 10, 2017 0 Comments
Freight forwarding is a great way for you to ship your goods without going through the hassle of having to track the cargo yourself. With freight forwarding services, you can focus more on your products or services and expect the goods to arrive on time.
But choosing which service is the best for your needs can be something different altogether. Here are the seven qualities you should keep in mind when choosing a forwarding service for your goods:
- Extensive Experience
The shipping industry is an especially difficult sector, and competition is fierce. Having a lot of experience is necessary for a forwarding service to stay in the business, as they know how to handle different situations, from worker strikes, port shutdowns, and cargo re-routing.
An experienced forwarder will help you navigate the problems of customs, warehouses, and routing in order to make sure that your goods arrive on time in peak condition.
- Expertise
How well do they know the industry? A good logistics company needs to have a detailed understanding and knowledge and should be able to explain to you everything you need to know about the world of freight forwarding.
Whe Feel free to ask your freight forwarder questions about main and alternate shipping routes, as well as the prices of different lines of sea freight and air freight. This is a great way to find out how well they know the world of local and international importing and exporting.
- Quick Delivery Time
How long does it take for the forwarding service to get the goods delivered from one place to another?
Even though forwarding can run into problems that could potentially delay the shipment, there is usually a set time frame from the different shipping lines’ travel time, customs inspections, and warehousing that can be broken down and explained to you in detail.
It’s important that the forwarder tells the cargo owner in advance the estimated time for the cargo to get to its destination, as well as the time taken for alternate routes in case of external factors, such as bad weather and re-routing.
- Versatile Load Capacity
You may want to consider a freight forwarding business capable of handling the volume of goods that you need on a regular basis, especially when you need a large amount of goods shipped to or from your business.
Freight forwarding agencies typically have established relationships with both aircraft and shipping lines, which are for different types of cargo with their own specific weight capacities. Be sure to talk to your forwarding agency regarding their process and policies when it comes to cargo consolidation.
- Good Haulers and References
Good freight forwarding services work in conjunction with more than one shipping company, and are expected to know the different transportation agencies, from local to international freight.
Asking for references is a good way to know if that particular forwarding agency is reliable. The longer the list of referrals from business owners that they have worked with, the better. If you want to choose a particular forwarding service but don’t know where to start, you can ask around.
- Quality Insurance
Cargo shipping can be a significant risk to both you, as a cargo owner, as well as the forwarding company themselves.
As with any trustworthy company, good forwarding agencies will be more than happy offer potential clients with a proper quotation with all the terms and services of their company, as well as the cost of their services in full.
Before going through with a particular service, you should remember to read the disclosure document carefully and in full before signing the contract.
- Excellent Customer Service
How fast the forwarding agency can answer your questions is one of the most important things to consider when choosing one for shipping your goods.
The sales representative of the forwarding agency needs to be able to walk you through the things that you need to know to make sure that your shipment arrives at its destination smoothly. Their ability to do this can speak a great deal about how capable they are when it comes to giving your shipment the attention it needs.