The forwarder - who is the forwarder and what does he do

The forwarder - who is the forwarder and what does he do
Freight forwarder is a difficult and much sought after profession. Some may disagree with this statement, citing the fact that this specialist does virtually nothing physically, but in reality the duties and responsibilities of the freight forwarder are many and not everyone can fulfill them.
To explain to you what the forwarder is actually doing, we will start from the beginning…
Although the term "freight forwarder" soon appeared, the age of freight forwarding services corresponded to the age of foreign trade. The first freight forwarders appeared in the distant 15th century. Then, as today, their main task was to deliver the goods to a certain place, but they also had to do everything possible to ensure that the integrity and quality of the cargo was not damaged during the trip. For centuries, this profession not only does not lose its relevance, but also strengthens its position.
The main task of the forwarder is to deliver the cargo to its destination. But while it sounds simple, in practice everything turns out to be much more complicated.
To begin with, each load must be documented. Not to mention the fact that some types of cargo require a number of permits. For example, the transportation of dairy products  is strictly controlled, and their import in some countries is very difficult. Another cornerstone of this profession is route planning - the freight forwarder must find the shortest but at the same time effective delivery routes.
The freight forwarder must have knowledge in many different fields, such as legal and regulatory framework, legislation, international rules and regulations for the carriage of goods, must be able to complete transport documents and know their specifics, and speak at least one foreign language.
The freight forwarder must accept all requests from customers and process them. To plan the most suitable routes for transportation of all goods on request, taking into account all costs and time intervals. To provide the driver with all the necessary documents for the delivery of the goods, and if disputes arise - to settle them all. In addition, if he fails to perform his duties or shows negligence - the freight forwarder may be administratively liable.
Imagine the situation. You bought 1000 laptops from China and want to sell them in Burgas. You can personally go to China and arrange for their transportation by air, by ship, and generally prepare all the transportation with everything you need, including transportation to and from the airport / port. This is a long and difficult process and it is not always possible to organize it by a private person. In fact, you can look for and find a good shipping company, negotiate satisfactory conditions for the transport of your goods, avoiding all the worries of storage, customs clearance, loading and unloading and of course the transport itself.
Freight forwarders work to solve all transport problems of their client. You find the right company for you, inspire you and offer the services you need, say where, what and when you want to be transported, pay for the services that will be provided, sign the agreement and you're done - at the specified time you receive the goods. The freight forwarder organizes the delivery, takes care of the intermediate stages of transportation, unloading and loading, storage and security of the cargo. He immediately prepares the documents (not without your help, of course) and finds another transport if there are problems with the first.
Do not confuse the freight forwarder with the carrier, although freight forwarding companies often have their own transport, the freight forwarder is the organizer of the delivery and the carrier is the contractor. As a rule, the carrier has only one type of transport and several directions in which cars, ships, trains, planes move. But what do you do if multimodal delivery is needed to deliver the goods? In fact, in most cases, even international deliveries from other continents always require multimodal transport . For international long distance transport, please contact a freight forwarder ... He will help you choose the best delivery scheme and the best route. If you deliver goods from China, USA, Japan and other countries far from Europe, the ideal option is the forwarder, he can certainly organize a multimodal delivery and save you time, nerves and money. Also - if you are transporting dangerous, bulky, valuable goods, such as your laptops, it is better to contact a freight forwarder ... He will find the best transport solution for you. In addition, freight transport has a logistics component, covering a whole range of different tasks that may have nothing to do with transport itself, but without which the process of delivering goods would be impossible or extremely difficult. Freight forwarders - full participants in the transport chain - are engaged in solving all logistical problems related to your delivery. In general, if we compare a shipping company with a transport company, then one of the main differences will be in the degree of responsibility. The carrier is only responsible for the delivery of goods within its route, while the freight forwarder is responsible for the delivery of the shipment at all stages of the movement of the goods.
The formation of a supply chain is quite a difficult task - it is no coincidence that there is a relevant discipline in applied mathematics, which deals with the development of optimal routes. In this regard, it is more difficult for the forwarder, as the optimality in this case includes not only reducing the total mileage, which is important in itself, but also taking into account the factors influencing the safety of the route, etc. According to reports from independent research companies, shipping companies control about 80% of the international transport market. Recently, multimodal freight transport, involving the use of different vehicles, has become increasingly important, with the task of reloading goods and customs clearance coming to the fore. All of them are performed by a forwarding company, which must comply with the deadlines set in the contract and be able to navigate the time characteristics of the movement of goods by different modes of transport.
As the main task of the freight forwarder is the timely delivery of goods without loss to the destination, determined in accordance with the established route, other services such as: analysis of the customer's application to determine the best conditions for the carriage of goods; provision of consulting / information services; customs clearance of goods; assistance in passing phytosanitary (quarantine) control in case of transportation of the respective goods; assistance in resolving issues related to fiscal authorities; cargo declaration; development of an optimal route and scheme for the use of vehicles for the fastest delivery of transported goods to the destination; determining the time of transportation; resolving issues related to insurance of part or all of the consignment of goods; implementation of measures for information support of freight transport; formation of conditions, payment procedure and tariff rates; Assistance with the storage of goods can be of particular benefit to the customer and essential for the smooth transportation of your cargo.
Of all the above - just one example - the provision of consulting services involves assisting clients in solving such strategically important issues as minimizing customs and tax payments, reducing other almost transport costs. What will you say about this?
If you are looking for a trusted freight forwarder to solve all your logistics problems - do not hesitate - contact us!