I. Definition and overview of freight forwarders
Freight forwarder, the full name of freight forwarder, is the abbreviation of cargo transportation agent, mainly responsible for arranging and managing the transportation of goods, customs declaration, inspection, insurance, warehousing and a series of related businesses. Literally speaking, freight forwarders play a vital role in international logistics, acting as a bridge and link between cargo owners and capacity providers. Freight forwarding is not only for the domestic market, but also widely involved in the international freight field, providing a full range of multi-mode transport services.
Ii. Main responsibilities and business of freight forwarders
Cargo transportation Arrangement:
According to customer needs and cargo characteristics, freight forwarders choose the most suitable mode of transportation and routes, including sea, air, land and rail transportation.
Arrange booking, packing, LCL, container transportation and other specific operations to ensure that the goods arrive at the destination on time and safely.
Customs declaration and clearance:
Freight forwarders provide import and export customs declaration services, including customs declaration, customs document production and customs declaration document management.
Assist customers to complete tax calculation, customs declaration estimation, etc., to ensure smooth customs clearance of goods.
Cargo Inspection and Insurance:
Freight forwarder to assist customers in cargo inspection procedures, select the appropriate inspection standards and institutions.
Provide customers with cargo transportation insurance services to ensure the safety of goods during transportation, and provide value-added services such as compensation for damage.
Warehousing and Inventory Management:
Freight forwarders provide warehouse management services, including warehouse location, storage equipment and inventory management.
Help customers rationally plan warehouse layout, improve warehouse utilization, and use advanced storage equipment and technology to ensure the safety of goods.
Freight negotiation and payment:
Freight forwarders represent customers with shipping companies, airlines and other transport agencies to negotiate freight costs, and strive for the most favorable transport prices.
Provide a variety of payment options, such as online payment, cash on delivery, etc., and assist customers to complete the freight payment procedures.
Cargo tracking and tracing:
The freight forwarder can track the status and location information of the goods in real time, timely feedback to the customer and handle abnormal situations.
Assist customers to sign for goods, acceptance and delivery, and provide perfect after-sales service.
Third, the operation process of freight forwarding
Taking FCL (non-dangerous goods) export by sea as an example, the operation process of freight forwarding is roughly as follows:
Solicitation and inquiry: the salesman accepts the inquiry of the consignor, the consignee, the name of the goods, the port of destination and other information.
Booking and confirmation: Line supervisor to the shipping company or freight forwarder inquiry, negotiate the freight rate, sign the export cargo agent letter S/O, and urge booking confirmation.
Shipping and packing: According to booking confirmation, shipping and distribution of empty containers are arranged, and the goods are packed and sent to the dock.
Customs declaration and inspection: submit relevant documents for customs declaration and inspection to ensure that the goods meet the import requirements.
Stowage and loading: stowage the cargo to the designated vessel, and follow up the loading status.
Charge settlement and release: Settle all charges, demand payment from the owner and release the bill.
Fourth, the current situation and trend of freight forwarding industry
Market pattern:
At present, the freight forwarding industry is facing fierce market competition, and small and medium-sized enterprises are facing operational difficulties. Some enterprises deal with the challenges through mergers and acquisitions or acquisitions by large enterprises.
Large freight forwarding enterprises enhance their competitiveness through brand strategy, digital intelligence upgrade and resource integration.
Technological innovation:
The application of digital intelligence technology in the freight forwarding industry is increasingly extensive, such as blockchain technology to improve data security and transparency, and big data to optimize logistics processes.
The rise of new media and e-commerce has accelerated the transformation of the freight forwarding industry to provide more efficient and accurate logistics solutions.
Multimodal transport:
The development of multimodal transport has brought new opportunities to the freight forwarding industry, and freight forwarding enterprises can integrate the advantages of different transport modes to provide one-stop multimodal transport services.
Financial and insurance cooperation:
The cooperation between the financial and insurance industry and the freight forwarding industry has become increasingly close, providing financing, settlement and risk management services for freight forwarding enterprises to reduce business risks.
To sum up, the freight forwarding industry, as an important part of the logistics field, plays a key role in international trade and cargo transportation. With the continuous progress of technology and the constant changes of the market environment, the freight forwarding industry is ushering in new development opportunities and challenges, and it needs to constantly innovate and change to adapt to market changes and customer needs.