Are you a businessperson who is looking to start a new business that relies on exported/imported products? Freight forwarding is the first thing that you need. When we talk about international freight forwarding, one should always remember that choosing a professional freight forwarder is more like choosing the vendor, accountant or the right supplier for your business. Basically, your freight forwarder will be playing the role of your partner to help your business grow.
With so many choices around, it is always hard for everyone to choose the right freight forwarder. You should know that if you choose the right freight forwarder, he will help your company to focus on the goals. Still, don’t know how to choose the best one to help you with your international freight? Here are some useful information.
Some Questions to Ask a Freight Forwarder
We have mentioned some important questions that you should ask the freight forwarding company whom you have chosen.
1) As about the packaging of your cargo or if it needs additional packaging/loading services.
2) What volume of air cargo, what size domestic cargo, or ocean container, will I be shipping depending on the mode of transport?
3) What do you think is the best mode of service for my business? Is it, port to door, port to port, or door to port service?
4) Can you tell me about my Incoterms with my buyer or the vendor/supplier? What is the starting and ending point of my liability and responsibility of the cargo?
Tips To Consider When Hiring a Freight Forwarder
Here are tips to consider choosing the best freight forwarding partner for your business.
Research the Experience of the Company
The first and the most important step to choose a partner is to do some research about their past experience in the industry. Do the research to find out what this freight forwarding company can and cannot do for your business. Ensure their obligations and your responsibilities to your company. You can read different industry terms, international treaties, regulations, and blogs that are important and needed for your international shipment.
Does The Freight Forwarder Have The Experience You Require?
Another thing that you should know about the industry is that there are different transportation commodities regulations (OFAC, BIS, ITAR) and destinations/origin. Here we can take an example of some of the most common items likes office equipment, garments, food items, cars, the raw material that is used for production, etc. Almost every freight forwarding company lack the capacity to handle such combinations. This is the reason why you should always ask your forwarder about their experience in the type of your shipment.
It’s very common that some companies provide examples of similar shipments to their customers that they have handled for anyone before.
Management of Your Shipment
You have to ask them about your contact person for coordinating shipment activities, submitting documents, lodging and getting updates and complains that you may have.
These are some tips and questions that you should always keep in mind when choosing a freight forwarder. Choosing the needs of your logistics may be important but choosing the right partner for your freight forwarding is very crucial. You can never make any wrong or bad decision while choosing a good freight forwarder. If you are planning to reach someone in Africa, there are Ghana freight forwarders who can help you with your problems.
