What does a forwarder do? What should I pay attention to when handing it over to the freight forwarding company?

Forwarding: Forwarding is a company that collects and pays goods for transportation companies (land, sea and air) through established transportation routes, thus playing an important role in completing the trade between shippers and merchants.

Choosing a freight forwarding company: mainly from three aspects.

① Choose a freight forwarding company with high credibility.

(2) Forwarding companies are generally classified.

③ Conditions for selecting freight forwarders

Details are as follows:

1. Choose a freight forwarding company with high credibility.

Check the business license of the other party before delivery, and inquire about the NVOCC code of the freight forwarding company and the number of the international freight forwarding certificate approved by the relevant MOFTEC or the relevant certificate of the national NVOCC agent, as well as the registration time and registered capital (this is the most basic and necessary).

2. Generally, freight forwarding companies divide freight forwarding into first class, second class, third class and fourth class. Generally, shipping companies will mainly issue route freight rates and shipping spaces to a class of freight forwarders (non-vessel shipping services), while another class of freight forwarders (similar to a class of non-vessel shipping services) will directly contact the shipping company, which is the designated agent of the shipping company and can provide stable goods for a long time and maintain good cooperative relations with the shipping company. After the agent of the first-class shipping company gets the route price, it will distribute it to some subordinate second-class freight forwarders in the form of small profits but quick turnover, and the second-class freight forwarders will send the relevant information and freight rates to the third-class freight forwarders, and so on. Therefore, sometimes the shipper directly applies to the shipping company for the price and shipping space, which will be much higher than the price announced by some freight forwarders, but it is also prone to problems when choosing freight forwarders. Finding a fourth-class freight forwarder to deliver the goods will be quite efficient in solving the problem. Therefore, when choosing a freight forwarding company, it is best to choose a first-class freight forwarding company with high reputation (NVOCC).

3. Conditions for selecting freight forwarders

(1) First of all, we need to know which airline has advantages and which is the main dominant shipping company. Then, we need to know which route the shipping company takes to the customer's port, the customs clearance time, the sailing days and whether the freight is appropriate.

(2) Whether the company can provide relevant customs declaration, trailer and warehouse storage capacity, it is best to have its own customs declaration department and trailer department, so that the whole transportation process is more suitable, and the freight forwarding company is fully responsible for any problems in the middle.

(3) In fact, whether the freight forwarder knows the way of international trade and its development trend, the direction of goods, etc. For example, Western Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan and other highly industrialized countries, whether their goods are exported to this country, whether the destination port has special restrictions on the goods of domestic enterprises or whether it is necessary to apply for special relevant certificates, or what extra fees need to be charged for a certain route can bring convenience to the shipper in estimating the cost.

(4) Whether the pre-shipping company is a direct ship or needs transshipment, and at which port, can it be guaranteed that transshipment can be completed during shift change and container dumping will not occur at the transshipment port?

(5) For special products, it is necessary to know whether the freight forwarding company can accept some special products, such as chemical products, frozen products, food, dangerous goods, powdery and liquid goods, and special services such as special cabinets, freezers, flat cabinets and open cabinets. (depending on the products of your own enterprise). Generally qualified special cargo carriers can provide relevant shipping certificates and other documents.

(6) The first-class freight forwarder should be familiar with the documents of carriage of goods by sea to ensure that the documents are made correctly, clearly and timely. The main shipping documents include bill of lading, sea waybill, manifest, invoice, bill of lading, packing list, port station receipt, mate's receipt, etc.

(7) Better freight forwarders should understand customs procedures and port operation procedures. In import and export trade, customs clearance is the traditional function of freight forwarders. In the dual relationship between freight forwarders and customs authorities and their customers, the legal status of freight forwarders varies from country to country, but customs agents are usually authorized by the government. Customers should consider whether freight forwarders, as customs agents, have the ability to protect the responsibilities of both customers and customs authorities in the process of performing their duties. Freight forwarders have the agency capabilities of transportation and departure formalities, bonded warehousing and inland customs clearance. , and the operation ability of port program is very important.

(8) Whether the freight forwarding company has its own branch or agent in the customer's city or port, whether it can complete the door-to-door transportation service, and whether it can provide the contact information and company information of the agent. Being able to complete door-to-door transportation service is one of the key points. On the other hand, when freight forwarding companies have branches and agencies in the port of destination to coordinate, sometimes the terms of cooperation with foreign investors are based on CNF or CIF, but there are often some unexpected factors, such as customers suddenly unable to redeem goods or customers maliciously reduce prices, so that they can better control property rights and avoid interests being infringed with the assistance of freight forwarding companies. Or find a new buyer at the destination or the return can be handled better in time. Although this situation is rare, it is not necessarily a bad thing to leave yourself a way out in the case of high international trade risks.

What I have compiled above is how to choose a freight forwarding company and the matters needing attention in choosing a freight forwarding company, for your reference only. Want to know more information about freight forwarding companies can visit Hengbang International Logistics official website!