A freight forwarder is an international logistics company which you would use to ship cargo overseas.
Here is a question. Do you thoroughly investigate a freight forwarder before you ship cargo? You may not bother, as the company you deal with currently is a major name freight forwarder.
There are a lot of freight forwarders in the world, however, if you do not choose the most effective company, you may be charged increased costs for shipping cargo.
Senior Cat There are so many freight Forwarders in Thailand market.
The company may tell you that they are unable to ship even though it is possible to send they can and the cargo may be held at customs every time due to lack of their experience.
Therefore, it is very important to choose the most effective freight forwarder.
Explaination about How to choose good Freight Forwarder on Video
Why there are so many Forwarder?
My business is located in Thailand, where there are nearly 100 Japanese transportation companies that are registered on the Thai-Japanese Chamber of Commerce.
When I checked these companies on the list, As I checked these companies on the list, I found that most of them operate conducted freight forwarding businesses.
Why are there so many freight forwarders in the market?
Possible reason of many Forwarder
・ Not much initial investment
: A freight forwarder does not require assets such as vessels or airplanes. They are able to start their business without holding any assets.
・ Thera are less fixed fee
: In Thailand, there are companies operating with one Japanese person and four Thai people.
・ There are so many different logistics
: Transporting goods sounds easy but is actually complex. Different logistical arrangements need to be made based on the content of the cargo, delivery location and customer request.
Therefore although there are many different companies offering logistics services, you will be able to succeed.
Do we need Forwarder?
If you can make international logistic arrangements without having any assets, you may think that you can send cargo by making arrangement with a shipping line and a truck transportation company directly, without using a freight forwarder.
You may think you can arrange logistic arrangements directly with a shipping lane and a truck transportation company without using a freight forwarder.
Actually, it is possible to make transportation arrangements by yourself. However, it is not very efficient.
Senior Seagull If you are not shipping high volume like a large company, costs will increase.
Volume advantage by Forwarder
If your company needs to send a container but only have volume of 1 -2 containers per month, the charge for ocean freight cost from the shipping lane will be incredibly high.
A major freight forwarder will transport hundreds and thousands of containers each month.
A freight forwarder works as an agency for a shipping lane and they receive a discounted price.
Therefore it is cheaper to use a freight forwarder than booking a carrier directly.
Senior Cat We recommends you to use Freight Forwarder..!
Logistics Arrangement
There are different methods of cargo transportation and arrangements that need to be made for logistics.
・ Booking a shipping line and an airline.
・ Trailer arrangement with a transport company.
・ Customs clearance arrangement with a customs broker.
・ Making arrangement with a packaging company- if packing is required.
・ Contacting a heavy load company if the cargo is heavy.
・ Is there is less cargo, arrange consolidated service.
・ Contacting a specific transportation company if the cargo will cross international borders.
・ Contacting a refrigerated warehouse company if you need to store frozen cargo.
However, if you ask a freight forwarder to make the logistical arrangements, they will deal with all of the specific requirements.
An effective freight forwarder with experience will choose the most cost effective method to ship your cargo. Therefore, professional freight forwarders who have experience of shipping cargo overseas are required.
How to choose Freight Forwarder?
By now, you are able to understand the necessity of a freight forwarder.
Now, if you are going to use a freight forwarder, which company do you need to choose?
We will go through the content of a freight forwarder role and explain the key points to look at when choosing one.
Strength and Weakness of Forwarder
The first point is to understand the strengths and the weakness of a freight forwarder.
Not all freight forwarders can arrange all logistical arrangements smoothly.
Our company is part of a group business in Thailand. They are companies dealing with freight forwarding and customs clearance, and they specialize in the following;
・ Asia and South-eastern Asia
・ Exporting
・ DG cargo
・ Air transport
・ Refrigerated cargo
For example, if you want to send DG cargo and use a freight forwarder who does not specialize in DG cargo, the cost will increase.
Also, they will be unable to deal with problem as they happens.
Cat・Seagull If you intend to ship DG cargo, you need to use a company which specializes in DG cargo.
Vessel and Air plane Space
The second point is to understand that the transport space of ocean freight vessels and airplanes are limited.
You are unable to ship whatever and whenever you like.
Especially prior to extended vacations such as New Year, National Day holiday, Songkran Holiday, and Golden Week, as space will be very limited as companies will ship before the vacation starts.
You may be required to ship urgent cargo on behalf of a customer.
Competitive Cost
Once cargo can be transported safely and on time, the next thing to look at is cost.
The product unit price will increase if the cost of logistics is high. If the cargo can be transported safely and on time, reduced cost transport will be preferred.
Senior Cat Companies who can provide a competitive price are strong forwarders.
How to get the competitive rate?
Now, Where does this competitive price come from? This depends on the volume of cargo the freight forwarder deals with and the sales team.
If they are dealing with high volume, the shipping line will provide them with a special rate.
If the sales team sells at a higher price, then the cost will be naturally high.
There is the a case that If the sales team sells at cheaper price to obtain additional work, the quality of their service may decrease. So, it is important to maintain the balance.
Many choice of the Carriers
A freight forwarder does not own vessels or airplanes, however they deal with different shipping lines and airlines.
Therefore, they can provide different options on price, schedule and free time to their customers.
Senior Cat There are freight forwarders who only deal with a specific shipping line or airline.
However, a customer will gain additional benefits from dealing with a freight forwarder who can provide more choices. solutions.
Smooth customs clearance
Customs clearance is a hurdle for international transport. You are unable to ship whatever you want in cross border transportation.
You may be required to have a permit or register items. It is important for a freight forwarder to be able to communicate this information to their customers in advance.
An effective freight forwarder will be able to ship cargo smoothly, without the cargo being held at customs clearance.
An effective freight forwarder who employs hires an experienced customs specialist can deal quickly and efficiently, this is how our company operates.
Senior Seagull Customs clearanceare process is an essential point to any international logistics.
Good communication with oversea agents or branches
An exporting freight forwarder and an importing forwarder located in two different countries, co-operate with each other to ship international cargo.
A large company has many branches overseas and there are freight forwarders who have a network of agency contracts.
If two countries do not communicate effectively, it may cause delays with customs clearance which will affect the delivery schedule.
An important factor is to remember to check that the importing country has a branch or agent with good communication skills.
Important factors are to check that the importing country has a branch or agent. Also, check if they have good communication skills where they communicate regularly.
Customer Service
A freight forwarder is a service business.
The customer services representative will find it easy with a freight forwarder if they are able to provide good service and positive attitude.
If a forwarder is able to provide good service and work with good attitude, the customers will be easy to work and will have a positive feedback toward them.
It is important to have a check the response time(quick response) and flexibility toward complicated requests when choosing a freight forwarder.
Senior Seagull If the experience or communication skill of CS PIC is not enough, Customers are not happy to work
Sales role and responsibility
To provide a good service, it is important to maintain high level cooperation within a company. .
Roles and responsibilities differ between each company.
However, it is important for sales representatives, customer services and customs specialists to work and cooperate effectively.
If effective communication is not maintained by each person within the team, the customer will be unable to forward issues and concerns to the appropriate person.
Customer will not be able to proceed the jobs when they cannot contact to person in charge.
Also, if a sales representative leaves a company, the customer will not necessarily know who they need to contact – this happens a lot in Thailand.
Summery
This time, we had a look at how to choose an effective freight forwarder using our company as an example – as we manage a freight forwarder.
Leading freight forwarder companies can provide a lot of services. However, there may be advantages of utilizing smaller companies, such as a representative experience level, speed of response, teamwork and flexibility.
There may be advantages to use smaller companies because of representative experience level, quick response, teamwork and flexibility.
I suggest you to consider improved logistical arrangements in the future to choose an effective freight forwarder.
