The emergence and development of freight forwarders

The emergence and development of freight forwarders

With the continuous development of commodity economy, compared with before the formation of socialized mass production, the activities of businessmen have been significantly strengthened in terms of geography and the scale and frequency of transactions. Frequent economic activities are often limited by time, space, energy, knowledge and skills, which makes it impossible for the parties to complete all economic activities in person and the agency industry will flourish.

As far as international transportation agency is concerned, it is on the edge between international trade and international transportation or * * * production industry. It develops with the development of international trade and international transportation. Because its business scope is all over the world, involving a wide range, many links, and the situation is complex and changeable, it is impossible for any carrier or shipper to handle every specific business in the world personally, so many businesses need agents to handle. In order to meet this demand, international transportation agents have appeared between international trade and international transportation. With their special skills and extensive social contacts in the transportation industry, they have penetrated into all aspects of the transportation field and become an indispensable part of international cargo transportation.

According to the nature and scope of its agency business, international transportation agents can be divided into four categories: chartering agents, freight agents, shipping agents and consulting agents. International freight forwarders, as the organizer and designer of international freight transportation, ensure the safe, rapid and economical delivery of goods according to customers' instructions and taking customers' interests as the starting point. You can simply say:? International freight forwarders are middlemen, brokers or transport organizers between shippers and carriers. ?

International freight forwarder is a kind of international freight forwarder, which has existed since the tenth century, and has been growing with the establishment of public warehouses in ports and cities, the expansion of maritime trade and the development of transportation. At first, international freight forwarders, as commission agents for manufacturers and merchants, attached to the cargo side, carried out various management affairs such as loading and unloading, customs clearance, storage and transportation, sales and collection. From the12nd century to the13rd century, handicrafts and commodity exchange in Europe became increasingly prosperous, and maritime trade was developed. Originally an Italian city-state with convenient shipping along the Mediterranean coast, it gradually expanded to western Europe and other countries. Different commodity owners have formed organizations specializing in shipping through various contractual relationships. Due to the characteristics of maritime trade, businessmen often leave their goods or business to their representatives or agents. /kloc-in the 0/8th century, freight forwarders began to consign more and more goods to the same destination by several shippers, and at the same time began to handle insurance, which gradually developed into an independent industry from the past.

With the arrival of age of steam and the application of the steam engine, the transportation industry experienced a revolution. The appearance of large ships and steam cranes has greatly expanded the growth space of maritime transportation. With the increasing importance of maritime transportation, international freight forwarders have occupied a certain position in the domestic economy and established industry organizations. After entering the 20th century, the international cooperation between international freight forwarders has made great progress, and at the same time, international freight forwarders have also extended from the traditional maritime field to the fields of air transportation, road transportation and container transportation. ;