What is a freight forwarder?
A freight forwarder is a person or a business who arranges the transportation of goods from one location to another. Freight forwarders serve as a middleman between the company that ships the products and the destination for them. While they do not carry out the shipping themselves, they do have various means of transportation such as road transport, air freight, rail freight and sea freight shipping. While this can seem to be a simple task, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to ensure that the product/goods you receive arrives safely from your supplier to your workplace. A good freight forwarder should make the operation seem smooth, efficient, and straightforward.
What does a freight forwarder do?
A freight forwarder can handle the transportation of your shipment from its point of origin to your store, house, or workplace. This could entail any or all of the following steps:
- Arranging transportation.
- Ensuring all relevant documentation is prepared.
- Organising insurance and monitoring delivery.
- Arranging haulage and shipping to your chosen location within the UK.
- Preparing documents, licences, and other necessary paperwork for UK customs authorities.
How do freight forwarding companies work?
The above duties can be handled on your behalf by freight forwarding companies which will avoid you from becoming unnecessarily stressed as you can ensure the services you are paying for will be carried out efficiently and to an exceedingly high standard. Although paying a freight forwarding company for these services may seem to be an unnecessary extra expense, freight forwarders have a variety of services and may be able to help you save money by ensuring the reliability of safe and efficient delivery of your goods.
Would I benefit from having a freight forwarder?
Companies are able to manage their imports and exports themselves without external assistance, however not using a freight forwarder is unusual as this would typically raise company costs rather than lowering them. If you pay a freight forwarder to handle the whole process instead, it will allow you to be stress free and increase company time.
We are freight forwarding experts here at Keedwell Scotland and would be more than happy to address any queries or questions you may have. Please contact us to speak to one of our highly qualified logistics experts today.