Tips to look for a freight forwarder

Because they work in such a diverse environment, forwarders are daily challenged to find suitable partners to work with around the world. That’s why we’ve prepared this article with tips to look for a freight forwarder.

Working in an international industry comes with daily challenges, especially when dealing with the freight forwarding industry. 

Each country and city has its particularity and for that reason, it’s important to find good partners to work with around the world.

However, finding good freight forwarder partners to work with is a challenging task, due to the complexity of the industry. 

It is common to spend hours and hours looking for new forwarder partners and end up unsatisfied with the options you gathered.

Before we dive into how you can find qualified freight partners for your company, we need to understand the challenges that make this process more tricky than it seems.

Challenges of finding freight forwarder partners

As mentioned earlier, finding forwarder partners to work with comes with lots of challenges.

By mapping out these problems your forwarder company faces, managing a solution becomes easier. 

To help you out, I’ve gathered some challenges you may face trying to find new partners for your freight forwarder business:

• Invalid website
• Find companies that are no longer active in the industry
• Forwarders with invalid email addresses and phone numbers
• Unreliable partners 
• Hours spent trying to find a partner to work with

These are some of the challenges but feel free to add more to the list. 

Remember – the more problems you map the easier it will be to choose a solution and to know where to look for new partners.

Finding the perfect partner for your forwarder

The first step in finding a freight partner that meets your business needs is understanding what you are looking for. 

Yes, you read that right! 

The first thing to do is map out what type of freight forwarder you are looking for. 

It may sound silly, but with so many freight forwarders working with different specialties, you can easily get confused during the process. 

So first things first:

What kind of freight forwarder are you looking for?

I suggest you keep it in mind (I also recommend writing it down somewhere):

• What kind of services do you need? 

Is it air, sea, rail freight? Do you need a forwarder to move dangerous goods, pharma, perishables, live animals, etc? 

• What country or city do you need to find a forwarder?

Depending on where you need to move your cargo is important to think if it is better to find a global freight forwarder or a local one.

• How much can you spend?

If you are on a tight budget you can resort to a low-cost freight forwarding company depending on what and where you need to ship the cargo.

Once you have done this, you are ready to start finding a new forwarding partner to work with!

Where to look for freight forwarders?

Now that you have some criteria to base your search on, it’s time to start looking for potential freight partners. 

There are some ways for you to look for freight forwarder partnerships:

Google

There is probably no simpler way to search for something these days than to do a Google search. 

To get search results that reasonably meet your needs, make sure you include some details in the search terms.

The best way to search for them on Google is to search for “freight forwarder in…” and then put in the country or city you are looking for. 

Also, try checking multiple sites to see more than one possibility.

However, be careful! Searching for freight forwarders on Google, despite being easy, may not be the best option. 

Even if you find a lot of results for your search, the lack of information about the quality or reputation of the freight forwarders displayed in the search results is a point that you should always be aware of.

For this reason, many freight forwarders prefer to leave good old Google aside and opt for freight forwarder directories or logistics networks. 

Unlike Google, these directories allow a more specific search. 

Freight Forwarder Directories or Logistics Networks

Another option used a lot by the forwarders is the international freight forwarder directory.

The difference between them and Google is that inside some of the directories you can be more specific by searching through the category of the service you wish to find forwarders in, such as rail, sea, air freight, warehousing, and more.

You will be able to see a brief description of the companies with some information like the website, the phone number, and the address.

In this case, you cannot see a background check of the forwarder, so make sure you choose a good one.

On the other hand at logistics networks, you can find a list of forwarders, where you can search for freight forwarder companies listed on that network. 

Usually, when you search for the country you wish to find, the results will appear with the company name in alphabetic order.

Once you choose a forwarder you can check their profile on the network, in many of them you can find the website, the cellphone number, and the address. 

Don’t forget to be careful when choosing them. 

Similar to Google, when using forwarder directories and logistics networks, you won’t be able to see a background check of the forwarder yet.

As you can see so far, there are a few options for finding freight forwarders. 

However, they fail on one point: the lack of resources to help you evaluate whether that freight forwarder is qualified for your company or not.

Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem: search for freight forwarders on Parnity.

Parnity – the evolution of Forwarder Networks

Parnity is a digital logistics network, where you can find freight forwarders in over 75 countries and filter searches by type of cargo, country, city, services, company name, branch office, or headquarters.

Parnity’s idea is to provide forwarders with complete forwarder information, so they can choose the best forwarder to handle their shipment.

That’s why, Parnity members have access to the most complete profile of the market with crucial information as well as photos, videos, and financial background when closing a partnership

In Parnity’s community, you quote only validated forwarders and can even check all the documents they have submitted by going through our transparent validation process. 

Not to mention that inside Parnity you can add your quotation requests for other forwarders inside the network to see, and answer requests from other forwarders.

Through Parnity, you can also contact forwarders in real-time to exchange quotations and build new partnerships.

Parnity’s idea is to give the freight forwarders complete information about the members, so they can be empowered to choose the best forwarder to handle their shipment.

How to choose a qualified freight forwarder

With these tips to look for a freight forwarder, you already know how and where to find freight partners.

Keep in mind that to find a qualified forwarder partner, you must check their background and invest some time in analyzing them.

At this point, you already know exactly what you are looking for and have a few options that fit what you want. 

Then it’s time to learn the best way to choose them.

To make it simple: understand that to find a qualified freight forwarding partner, you should check their background and invest some time in analyzing them.

Here are some things you should look at:

• the freight forwarder’s website – check if the information on the “about us” page matches the services they offer, the city and country they are located in;
• if there is any contact information available, phone or e-mail;
• what logistical certifications the company has – such as IATA, DUNS number, AEO, etc;
• if the forwarder is not listed in the FDRS;
• feedback from current partners of that freight company.

The process of analyzing a freight forwarder can be quite manual and take some time, but with Parnity you can take a step further. 

Parnity gathers all this information during the transparent validation process and keeps it available to all forwarders for verification whenever necessary.

The documents collected during the process are available in a feature we call Trust Scan, click here to learn more.

As you look at different forwarding companies, make sure you also ask about some important details to learn more about the company and how it operates, such as:

• Are you licensed?
• Do you provide cargo insurance?
• What is included in your rate?
• What are the costs I should expect to pay at the destination?
• What are the regulations and requirements for the destination?

Time to make new partnerships!

You already know all the steps to finding and choosing a great freight forwarder partner to work with. So it’s up to you to identify the best option.

Keep in mind that to find and choose a new forwarder partner you must look at the bigger picture: knowing the challenges you are facing, and what kind of services you need.

With the tips to look for a freight forwarder above, you will be able to find and choose a great freight partner to work with. 

Take your time during the process of choosing a freight forwarder, ask lots of questions, and review your options to ensure you choose a qualified freight forwarder. 

And don’t forget that Parnity is here to help you through this process and save you time, learn how by clicking here.