What do international freight forwarders do?

1. What is an international freight forwarder?

Freight forwarder is short for "freight forwarder", and international freight forwarder is international freight forwarder. International freight forwarding involves the owner, carrier, customs, entry-exit inspection and quarantine, entry and exit of the country or customs, with long transportation distance, long cycle, many uncertainties and high risks, so it is much more complicated than domestic freight forwarding.

the predecessor of international freight forwarders is customs broker, and most of the employees come from international trade manufacturers or foreign trade enterprises. They mainly handle the international trade business and transportation customs declaration of our factory or company. With the development of international trade, the freight forwarding industry has gradually developed and eventually became a huge specialized industry.

in the development of freight forwarding industry, some countries tried to cancel freight forwarding in order to reduce intermediate links, and let the consignor contact the carrier directly, without going through the intermediate link of freight forwarding, but they all failed in the end, which was simply not feasible.

international freight forwarding involves several main bodies: consignors, freight forwarders, shipping agents, carriers, and related port terminals, airport freight stations, major yards, various freight stations, and warehouses of various colors, which complement each other and accomplish the task of importing or exporting goods.

2. what is the main job of the freight forwarder?

according to the different clients of freight forwarders, the main tasks of freight forwarders are also different. The service objects of freight forwarders include serving consignors, carriers and customs.

1) according to the owner's requirements, recommend the best mode of transportation (sea, air, car, railway, etc.), plan the best transportation route (direct, transit), and select the most suitable carrier (airlines, shipping companies, logistics companies, express companies, etc.).

2) as an intermediary between the carrier and the consignor, book shipping space with the selected carrier on behalf of the consignor.

3) according to the owner's requirements, provide basic logistics services such as delivery, loading and unloading, warehousing and distribution, and value-added logistics services such as unpacking, distribution, consignment, packaging, weighing and labeling.

4) accept the entrustment of customers for customs declaration and inspection, and provide services such as inspection and customs declaration, including guiding customers to make relevant documents, checking documents, reporting to the customs, following up customs declaration and cooperating with inspection.

5) Issuing the freight forwarder's bill of lading/waybill or asking for the owner's bill of lading or airline waybill from the carrier, and sending it to the owner in time, on the one hand, as a proof of receiving the goods, on the other hand, it is beneficial for the owner to handle matters such as settlement of foreign exchange and tax refund.

6) Acting as an agent for certificate of origin, insurance, foreign exchange, settlement of freight and miscellaneous fees, payment collection, etc. (if necessary).

7) Deal with any unexpected situations, such as package damage during transportation, damage or loss of goods, etc., ask for damage certificates, and assist the consignor to claim compensation from the carrier or insurance company.