A freight forwarding company is a third-party organization that handles the logistics for the transportation of goods to their final destination. This includes organizing air, ocean, rail, or land transportation, negotiating prices and timings, understanding and managing global tariffs and regulations, and much more.
Serving many roles, a successful freight forwarder utilizes software to optimize their services.
Essentially, as global trade is crucial in today’s economy, the role of a freight forwarder is to make the global shipping process easier for organizations. If a company or organization is going to participate in global trade, a freight forwarder is essential in ensuring the safety and timely delivery of product.
How do you choose the right freight forwarder for your company, though?
There are a few steps involved in choosing a great freight forwarder as well as some specific questions you should ask. The first step is to understand your business and its transportation needs. Then, you need to review the freight forwarder’s credentials, certifications, and licenses. Last, review their communication abilities and how they handle unexpected problems and make sure they use a software platform that’s cloud based providing real time answers and results. Below is more detail on each of these steps.
Understand Your Needs
The first step in choosing the right freight forwarder is understanding what you are looking for by analyzing your business and understanding your own needs. Do you require air transportation, ocean transportation, rail, land, or some combination of the four? If your product needs to cross an ocean, you would not want to utilize a freight forwarder that specializes in rail freight. Also, analyze your communication, customer service, and timely delivery requirements.
You first need to know your own internal requirements before you can locate a freight forwarder to meet them. If you want your business to stay competitive you need access to state of the art freight forwarding software for overall transportation management.
Understand the Freight Forwarder’s Experience and Reach
Exceptional freight forwarders will have many years of experience in the particular transportation method and region that you are shipping to and from. Do not hire a freight forwarder that is new to a region or does not have the reach you require as they would be unlikely to know the local regulations or tariffs. A great freight forwarder will also have extensive contacts that can aid through the shipping process by offering storage space for cheap, understanding local and regional regulations, and offering the most competitive prices.
Real time communication is also a must. With so many advances in technology and transportation management systems this should not be hard to come by.
Review Documents and References
Review the licenses, certifications, and permits the potential freight forwarder has. A great freight forwarder will be able to show you any documentation you require. They will also have quality references to corroborate previous transportation successes.
Communication and Tracking Capabilities
Ensure the freight forwarder you choose understands your communication and customer service requirements. They should be fully transparent in all of their dealings and be able to track and tell you exactly where your product is in the supply chain when you ask. Ensure that you have all accurate contact information for your freight forwarder and that they answer any questions in a timely manner.
This is achieved with freight forwarding software products.
Know the Strategy for Managing Risk and Unexpected Issues
One of the most important requirements for a freight forwarder is to be able to mitigate risk and react quickly in unexpected and complicated circumstances. Unfortunately, not everything can be predicted. Freak storms occur, there are disrupted shipping routes, environmental conditions worsen, there is lack of personnel at ship locations, product is damaged, and many other occurrences. Ask your freight forwarder for their strategy on how they manage these types of risks.
Conclusion
Freight logistics is a complicated process that must be managed with expertise and finesse. Your product is important, so you want to ensure it gets from point A to point B on time with no damage. If you do your research and interview multiple freight forwarders, you can find the perfect one for your business and rest easy knowing your product is in good hands.
Freight Forwarding Software for Competitive Businesses
More questions on your options when it comes to freight forwarding software? CSA Software has all the answers. We offer the best freight forwarding software products in the industry.
Always at the forefront of transportation and logistics industry trends, our resources and capabilities allow us to have the competitive edge over our competitors, instantly improving your business. You will get a customized software product that meets the exact needs of your business including a transportation management system for shipping, warehousing, accounting and more. Call for a Free Demo today and watch your business thrive!