If you are in the export and import business, or any other business that requires you to think about international shipping and the logistics of it all, I can understand just how complicated you might think this whole process to be. That is mostly because it is quite complicated, but partly also because you cannot handle it all on your own. The logistics of it all need to be handled by professionals and while I am sure that you are a professional at what you are doing, that’s not what I’m talking about.
Instead, I am actually referring to specific professionals that work in the area of international shipping. There are experts out there who can offer you the services of safe and efficient transportation of your goods from one place to another without you having to lift a finger. Sounds pretty great, doesn’t it? Well, that’s because it is great. The idea of having someone else worry about the whole shipping process is quite amazing and I am sure that you would love taking advantage of it.
If you don’t precisely know what I’m referring to when I say that you can have someone else worry about the shipping process, let me explain and make it as simple as possible. This whole idea consists of you hiring professionals to handle your international shipping requirements. Those professionals are called freight forwarders and your company might just need their service. Click this to get better acquainted with these services, so that you can figure out whether you need them or not.
Today we are going to be talking about one specific type of freight forwarding services and thus help you understand if you need them. Unsurprisingly, we will start by explaining precisely what freight forwarding is and then we will proceed to answer some other important questions that will help you realize if you need these services. So, without further ado, let us get started right now.
What Are Freight Forwarders?
Freight forwarders are basically in charge of moving your goods from one place to another. Now, I am not talking about mere transportation here. In fact, these companies actually specialize in organizing and arranging the entire process, starting with storage and ending with finally shipping the specific merchandize. In simple words, they are the intermediaries between the shippers and the transportation firms. The great thing is that they cooperate with various different carriers so as to find the best prices and the best routes that are taken when certain goods are being transported.
The companies providing these services are, as you might have concluded, in charge of much more than simply transporting your goods from point A to point B. They handle the logistics of it all and make sure that your products are perfectly and safely stored, as well as transported. If you think about it closely, one could say that these experts take the hard work over once you are done creating your specific goods. In other words, you are in charge of production and they are in charge of everything else.
What Is Air Freight Forwarding?
If you have understood what freight forwarding is, then you will undoubtedly be able to understand what air freight forwarding is, since it is all perfectly logical and a conclusion draws itself. To put it simply, we’re talking about air shipping services provided by the experts that I have talked about above. There are a few different methods of sending your goods overseas and I suppose you understand that air is one of those.
Basically, this is the process of sending out your goods by air. If you thought that this process is as simple as putting a box of products on a plane, you were definitely wrong. It is actually quite more complicated, which is why you absolutely need to hire air freight forwarders to handle everything on your behalf. There are rules and regulations that need to be followed, paperwork that has to be filled out and logistics that need to be handled perfectly. Nobody can do that better than a professional specialized in performing these types of services.
When you hire professionals, though, this whole process will actually become quite simple, and that’s because you won’t be the one having to organize it. All the paperwork, tracking, booking, warehousing, transportation and even insurance requirements will be successfully handled by the experts that you end up partnering up with. However, in case you aren’t sure why going for air freight forwarding and air shipping is actually a good idea, I suggest you continue reading since I’ll try and answer the question of why your business needs these services.
Why Does Your Business Need It?
As mentioned previously, there are various different methods through which you can ship your products internationally, and yet air is the most popular one.
There must be at least a few reasons why people go for this option instead of all the other ones. To put it differently, there must be a reason why your business needs air freight forwarding services. Well, there most definitely are and now we are going to take a look at a few of those.
1. Fast
First things first, the reason why people opt for using these specific services is that it is actually the fastest transportation alternative. When you compare it to any other option, such as road, ocean or rail transport, it won’t be difficult for you to understand why this is the fastest option.
The only question is why fast is even necessary, so let me make that clear. Simply put, you don’t want to leave your clients waiting for ages until the products they have ordered arrive, because nobody likes to wait for that long. When you, on the other hand, succeed in delivering their products quickly, they are most likely to order something again from you, which leads to them becoming your loyal customers.
2. Secure
Apart from being quick, the process of sending out your goods by air is also extremely secure. Air freight is often used for high value shipments and security is definitely the number one concern. When you decide to use air freight forwarding services, you can rest assured that your products will undergo minimal handling, which reduces risk of damage and theft. That’s what makes this the most secure shipment option.
Find out more about what freight forwarders can do for you: https://smallbusiness.co.uk/freight-forwarder-2544115/
3. Reduced Costs
As every single business out there, you are probably concerned about the cost of these services. Well, if you go for air freight, you will be able to avoid some unnecessary packaging, insurance, and warehousing costs. First of all, goods that are shipped this way don’t need to be heavily packaged. Then, there’s also the fact that you won’t need to spend a lot of money on warehousing since the shipments will be sent out rather quickly. On top of that, insurance premiums are usually lower when you go for this particular option.
4. Easy To Track
There is another reason why using air freight services is a great idea and it has to do with tracking your goods. Given that there are always information available about when the specific flight is taking off and when it is landing, tracking will be quite easy.
Plus, a lot of freight forwarders provide certain web applications that will make tracking even easier, meaning that you will always know precisely where your goods are and when they are expected to be delivered to the end customer. Staying constantly updated like this is extremely important, not only because it will give you a certain sense of security, but also because you’ll be able to update your customers about the status of the shipment if that turns out to be necessary.
