The Importance of Freight Forwarding Services

Have you heard of freight forwarding companies/services and are willing to know what this fancy term actually means? In this article, we will discuss what freight forwarders in India do, why we need them, and how important they are.

Be it any business, say IT, shipping, trading, or manufacturing, when it expands, it becomes difficult for the company to keep an eye on every movement that occurs in order to complete the assignment. Also, it is not always possible to have a team of experts in every department. And then comes the point where the business owner starts looking to outsource some of their tasks to get things done smoothly.

The same is the case in the import, export, and domestic freight shipping markets. With so many transport modes available, it becomes difficult for the shipper to come up with an optimised combination of routes, transport modes, timing of carriers, etc. Transportation itself is an area of specialisation and has its own framework of legal and commercial overtones. A shipper would not want to drag himself into this business. To bridge this gap, somebody else is required. And that’s where an intermediary transport is born — the freight forwarder.

Now that we have understood why we need a freight forwarder, let’s understand what a freight forwarder does. To keep things easily understandable, let’s understand it this way:

Freight means goods transported in bulk by truck, train, ship, or aircraft.

A forwarder is a person or an organisation that dispatches or delivers goods.

So, freight forwarding refers to a third party who can either be a company or an individual, organising the shipping of goods from one destination to another. They do not actually move the cargo, but use their relationships with companies to help them ship using different modes, such as sea/ocean freight, rail freight, road transport, and air freight shipment. They often use multiple modes for the transport of a single shipment and come up with the most affordable means of freight shipping.

A freight forwarder’s to-do list includes everything from storing goods before shipment, insurance, documentation, and making the consignment clear through customs. They coordinate and make the whole process hassle-free.

This service is very important so that you can focus on growing your business without worrying about the logistics part. It allows you to grow your customer base across large distances. It also enables manufacturers to export their goods to places where they are more valued and they can find worthy clients who can afford them.

Thinking of shipping without a freight forwarder will not only delay the process but might also make things unorganised and messy depriving you from your desired success.

Also Read: Advantages of choosing an end to end logistics service provider.