5 things you need to know about freight forwarding from one of Vancouver’s leading trucking and warehousing companies!
5 things that you need to know about freight forwarding from one of Vancouver’s top leaders in the trucking and warehousing industry!
Freight forwarders play an important role when it comes to moving goods and are essentially the travel agents of your precious cargo. Whether by way of rail, sea, air, or truck, they ensure that your shipment moves from point of origin to point of destination at the correct time, at the right location, in good condition, and at the most economical cost. Harness the power of efficient freight forwarding with our important tips below.
5 things you need to know about freight forwarding
1) Two of your closest partners: Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders
Customs brokers and freight forwarders have vastly different roles, but they work closely together to get the job done right. Freight forwarders move goods from A to B and customs brokers ensure that your goods undergo a seamless bureaucratic journey to its destination country.
Customs brokers make sure that your products meet the necessary regulatory requirements, are packaged correctly, are labelled adequately and all taxes, duties, and fees have been paid. They are also well versed with any changes in the regulations and legislation of the country that you wish to ship your goods to.
2) Connected and Curious
Shipping and transporting goods can be overwhelming when you try to do it all by yourself. Hence, you go to a professional for advice. Although your freight forwarding company may know all the ins and outs of the industry, connections and the curiosity for more connections is the backbone of a solid and successful long-term logistics plan. You are not only paying for a forwarder’s expertise but the instrumental connections that come along with it.
3) Tackling Delays
Delays can occur when shipping goods, and the freight forwarding company is not to blame when it does happen. Most causes, inclement weather, port delays, and mechanical problems, are out of your freight forwarder’s control. However, they are there to help you get through the problems.
4) Industry Certification and Memberships
Knowing that your freight forwarding partner has their certification and memberships current adds confidence and trust to your relationship.
- Partners in Protection (PIP) is a cooperative program between the private industry and CBSA that focuses on improving border security and trade chain security.
- The Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association provides its members with the most up to date information relating to their industry.
As things are always changing, even veterans of the shipping industry can benefit from keeping up with the latest news.
5) Important Steps to the Process of Freight Forwarding
- Export haulage – Moving the cargo from the location of the shipper to the warehouse of the freight forwarder. Reliable trucking companies in BC will be able to provide consistent service to start things off right.
- Checkpoint at Freight Forwarder – This step ensures that all goods have arrived at the warehouse in good order.
- Customs Clearance – Obtaining clearance to leave its country of origin.
- Origin Handling – shipment is unloaded and the goods are crosschecked against the booking documents.
- Import Customs Clearance – Port authorities verify that all customs documents are in order.
- Destination Handling – Transporting the cargo to the destination warehouse.
- Import Haulage – Moving the goods from the warehouse to its final destination with the help of local trucking companies.
Freight forwarding is an essential part of any business that generates revenue from selling and getting products to their customers on time. As one of Vancouver’s leaders in the trucking and warehousing industry and being in such close proximity to Canada’s largest port, you can rest assured knowing that our extensive knowledge of the freight forwarding sector and our commitment to our customers will help your business thrive.
Whether you are importing or exporting goods or require LTL/FTL services, we are here to help. Contact us at (604)-276-9044 or info@sandhartrucking.com today for more information and to see our newly expanded 100,000 square foot facility!