Who was the first freight forwarder?
What does freight forwarding look like today?
How to find the best freight forwarder?
What is freight forwarding?
Freight forwarding is the commercial activity in which freight agents, most commonly referred to as "freight forwarders" arrange the shipment of goods from the point of origin to the point of destination. The point of origin can be a manufacturing plant and the point of destination could be a retailer, for example. Freight forwarders operate as an intermediary between the party that ships the goods and the party who needs to receive the goods. They do not physically transport any cargo, rather they navigate the complexities of international logistics on behalf of the shipper. On top of arranging for transport, services like packaging, warehousing, customs clearance, insurance and document management are usually handled by freight forwarders.
Who was the first freight forwarder?
The service of freight forwarding has origins in the 1800 in England. The first freight forwarders were actually innkeepers who provided the extra service of holding and forwarding the belongings and/or goods of their guests. The first known, or most well known, freight forwarding company was Thomas Meadows and Company Limited- established in 1836 in London, England. It was at this time that many similar forwarding companies sprung up due to the business opportunity which was presented through servicing merchants and manufacturers. Through local networks of carriers, these early freight forwarders established the practice of arranging transportation and assisting with customs clearance and documentation.
What does freight forwarding look like today?
Much has changed since the early 1800’s, however freight forwarding has remained an integral function in business and the global economy. Mass production in the Industrial Revolution gave rise to the need of transporting larger quantities of goods and branching into new markets across the world. Today’s globalized world would not have been possible without freight forwarders. Nowadays, freight forwarding is ever more complex as much of the service is handling documentation that depends heavily on geo-politics. We have also been experiencing the tech revolution taking the industry by storm. For shippers (importers/exporters) this is great news, because it has never been easier to connect to a forwarder and ship your goods.
How to find the best freight forwarder?
There are thousands of freight forwarders in the world, so it can be a painstaking task in trying to figure out which forwarding agent you should use. As mentioned in the previous section, it has never been easier to book a shipment thanks to innovative booking platforms. But you can't just use any shipment booking platform- you need to make sure it is backed by competent and, better yet, expert freight forwarders who have demonstrated and proven to be of a high trustworthiness and great quality. You can find the best experts for your shipping needs within the 7ConNetwork global agent network on the Agent Finder tool. Our expert members can handle any type of cargo and can ship to and from any location in the world. Send us an freight inquiry today at join@7connetwork.com
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