Documentation, regulations, laws, restrictions, specifications: there are many reasons that make shipping cargo a very complex endeavor. For many individuals and companies, the logistics of transporting goods from one place to another can be extremely daunting. Luckily, there are specialists who make a living by taking care of all these details. This is the job description of freight forwarders.
Freight forwarding companies rarely carry shipments themselves. Instead, they rely on trusted carriers and shipping services companies, as well as their expertise of the complex world of logistics, to provide a wide array of shipping solutions to their clients. Some of these solutions might include:
Packaging
Many freight forwarders are expert packagers. And this not only means packing items to avoid damages. A good forwarder can optimize the packaging of a shipment to be more efficient depending on the mode of transportation. For example, they might suggest keeping the packaging light in case of shipping by air in order to keep costs down. Or they might take extra care to pack items that are traveling across the world and go through extreme temperature changes. In short, a good freight forwarder knows how to best prepare your shipment for its specific route.
Labeling
In the United States and most other countries, laws require that shipping containers be labeled with several essential identification details. Depending on the shipment, some of these include description of contents, dimensions, country of origin, port of entry details, hazardous material notifications, tracking barcodes, and so on. A good freight forwarder makes sure that every shipment is labeled correctly to avoid getting lost and to comply with any required regulation. Which brings us to…
Documentation
Getting a container shipped from one place to another often requires significant amounts of paperwork and documentation, and more so when it comes to international shipments. Commercial invoices, bills of lading, certificates of origin, export licenses… We could go on and on. Freight forwarders are masters of logistics paperwork, saving you time, money, and many headaches.
As you can see, freight forwarders can be a great option for individuals and smaller companies that don’t have the time or resources to make sure their shipments are made efficiently and securely. At QuickLoad, we often work together with freight forwarders, providing them with the latest in logistics tech to make shipping quicker and more efficient than ever.
Learn more about our shipping solutions here.
Content Creator: Pablo Torres
