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Whether you’re a large business and a frequent importer or a small business planning for your first international shipment, choosing the right freight forwarders is vital. Ensuring that your valuable goods are in dependable hands to carry forward is really important and thus it’s worth time and attention to find good forwarding agents.

Freight Forwarders

Freight forwarders work as middlemen between the transportation services and shippers. They are responsible for arranging the entire process of shipping and logistics of goods from one end to another. They are experts in this process and may involve in the ocean or air freight forwarding. Some of them have reached a limited number of countries while some provide services globally. They may prepare documents like customs bonds CA, arrange payments, and may help in clearing customs as well.

There are numerous freight forwarders available and not all of them are alike in terms of better service and feasibility. So we have put together some important tips in this article to let you choose the right freight forwarders effectively.

Experience

Make sure that the professional is experienced enough. With experience, your professional can deal with various situations, such as port shutdowns and dockworker strikers, just to name a few. Aside from this, experienced professionals can help you deal with warehousing, customs bond, and other routine issues. They can guide you about how to be in compliance with laws and regulations and what to do when you know you have violated a rule.

Services

customs bondYou hire them for the services you specifically need. So make sure before hiring you have properly pondered upon what you need. For example, some importers hire them to fulfill customs bond requirements. The freight forwarding company you supposed to choose for your next shipment should have enough agents and capability to handle additional needs like packaging, storage, cargo movement, trucking, insurance, and others. Make sure they offer a valid tracking option or give you an easy contact method. 

Network

Ideally, you should go with a freight forwarder who has a solid network in the countries where you are going to do your business. If you are going to ship to Canada, for instance, make sure that your freight forwarder has connections in that country. Otherwise, you may have problems down the road. Furthermore, it’s better to know whether they have experience of posting continuous import bonds or they maintain connections with other customs brokers or surety companies.

Good References

When you start searching for freight forwarders, you can compare key factors like experience, services, prices, and references. References are truly significant that a company with a greater number of positive references should be your preference. You can read reviews and comments on their social media accounts and see how many customers are happy with their services. Like if someone has said that he’s not convinced with continuous import bond service. If you notice poor feedback from existing customers you can avoid.

Ask Some Questions

Freight forwards maintain connections with a broad network of logistics providers and supply chain professionals. They allow easy shipment from one country to another and possess the necessary tools, staff, and resources. One of the key things you should look for in freight forwards is customer service. Because you will not be there to preserve and oversee your goods, neither will you deal with customs agents to verify customs bonds, you should make sure they politely answer all your initial questions in a timely fashion.

  • How many years they have been in the business?
  • How can they help you with customs clearance?
  • Do they possess a license?
  • How many clients like you they have dealt with in the past?
  • Freight rates?
  • Do they provide any medium to track your cargo?

These are some important questions you can ask before hiring freight forwarders. Your products are valuable and it can be risky to trust someone for freight who is not responding appropriately. Make sure you follow the tips given in this article.

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