Just as you wouldn’t buy or sell a home without the help of an experienced real estate agent, you’d be unwise to import or export without hiring a freight forwarder. These professionals have the experience most others lack, and they can make the process seamless. Plus, most times, by hiring an expert, you end up keeping a lot more money in your pocket.
What Is a Freight Forwarder?
While a freight forwarder is not a shipping company, they understand the shipping industry. What they do is arrange the importing and exporting of goods. That means they have to have knowledge of not only shipping but logistics. They are constantly troubleshooting the best ways to get goods from point A to point B.
And in the world today, that is a huge benefit to your company. Here are just some of the ways hiring a freight forwarder can help you succeed.
Expediency and Knowledge
Acting as a shipping agent, your freight forwarder gets things done. Employing years of industry knowledge, they manage your import-export efforts effortlessly (or so it appears from your perspective, which means no worrying on your end). By choosing a professional, you know that your goods will be shipped on time. They’re applying all of that experience of logistics and shipping routes to ensure that your shipments are not affected by delays that might be occurring in the industry.
Most freight forwarders don’t just have a plan A. They have a plan B and even a plan C. Especially in this time, when the economy is topsy-turvy, having a professional on your side can remove a lot of the personal management and oversight that can come with global shipping.
Cost-effectiveness
Unless you’re shipping in large quantities, you’re going to pay a higher fee transporting goods on your own. By hiring a freight forwarder, though, you get the advantage of shipping in bulk. Your shipping agent will put your goods together with other clients’, which results in a lower per-unit cost. Combine that with the fact that you’re minimizing risks of loss by having your goods under the watchful eye of a freight forwarder, and it makes good fiscal sense to go with a freight forwarder.
Full Service
If you were to import or export goods on your own, you’d have a mountain of paperwork to contend with. Customs and insurance requirements practically require a college degree to understand. When hiring a freight forwarder, you no longer have to manage paperwork or talk to multiple people. You have one point person who takes care of it all. Your headaches are minimized, if not eliminated, and you can be assured your goods are in good hands.
When Hiring a Freight Forwarder, Remember Cyclone Shipping
At Cyclone Shipping, we put our extensive experience in shipping and logistics to work for your benefit. We always stay ahead of the global situation, whether that includes port delays and closures or challenges associated with COVID-19. We create multiple plans to deal with any eventuality, and we remain in constant contact with you to let you know what’s happening. Plus, our prices are extremely competitive.
As you consider hiring a freight forwarder, keep Cyclone Shipping in mind. Contact us to learn more.