When it comes to freight forwarders, knowing how insurance and trading conditions can lower the risk of financial loss can benefit your business greatly. Here’s a guide to help you filter through to a freight forwarder that knows and complies with the requirements that are required.
Responsibilities As A Freight Forwarder
Businesses that send packages, crates and/or containers across the world look to freight forwarders to provide a solution. These freight forwarders work for importers and exporters alike, making sure that their clients’ goods get delivered in a safe and timely manner. This includes booking your business’ cargo with airlines, shipping lines rail or road carriers too.
There are some freight forwarders that also have their own fleets of transportation vehicles and can transport their clients’ goods themselves. It is worth checking with them as this could save you costs.
However, freight forwarders’ responsibilities don’t end there: preparation and bill checking, insurance arrangements, and acquiring the lowest possible customs charges (where necessary) are all also part of the service that a good freight forwarder is expected to provide.
Conditions Of Trading And Liability Limitations For Freight Forwarders
Every business has rules and regulations that it must know and abide by, such as health and safety, employment law, accounting standards and public liability. There are also, other legal stipulations that pertain solely to freight forwarders and their clients.
It is up to the freight forwarding companies to make sure that all of the arrangements for the transportation of goods from the seller to the buyer are completed to a sufficient standard. This is not limited to but can sometimes include journeys of thousands of miles, in which case more than one method of transportation will be used. Before the services of a freight forwarder are even required, a sale of goods between a seller and a buyer will have had to be made via contract.
One reason that a contract must be written up and agreed by both buyer and seller before a freight forwarder is involved, is that many factors of said contract will have direct effect on the contract that will later be signed and agreed between the freight forwarder and their client. The client that approaches the freight forwarder could be either the seller or the buyer of the goods.
Trading Conditions
In order for both the client and the freight forwarder to have a full understanding of what each of their responsibilities are during the transportation period, clients must know the trading conditions. This should be done before any details of the contract are agreed. The conditions protect the forwarder’s liability in the event of a claim against them. Failing to have these conditions in place could result in the forwarder facing costly consequences.
Trading conditions can include, but are not limited to, making sure that the client knows that their goods are not automatically insured, providing safeguards to ensure that the forwarder is paid on completion of the job, and protection for the forwarder if the client fails to fully disclose the contents of a consignment, such as hazardous materials of a high value.
If you’re looking for a freight forwarding company that you know understands and complies with all of the requirements that a freight provider should, or you are just looking for more information on how a freight provider can benefit your business, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 0844 879 3229.