If you are interested in becoming a freight forwarder, you need to master some essential skills, identify your career goals, and learn how to manage contracts and international freight services.

1. Essential Skills to Master

To become a shipper, you must have record-keeping, problem-solving, attention to detail, and interpersonal and communication skills. Also, you need to have good geographical knowledge, sensitivity to culture, planning and organizational skills, integrity, and tolerance to stress.

Last but not least, freight forwarders need to have a substantial knowledge of political developments, currency movements, bank instruments, import and export regulations, weather, and global trade.

2. Determine Your Career Path

The next step is to consider your career progression. For example, you can start out as a driver and then progress to a role such as a foreman, project manager, and purchasing manager. Alternatively, you can start out as a material handler and move to become a technician, production supervisor, and then warehouse manager.

Other international freight forwarding job roles include:

• Operations manager
• Air/sea freight operator
• Freight forwarding pricing coordinator
• Cartage/export/import operations coordinator
• Export/import officer

When considering a career in freight forwarding, you can apply for a job with a manufacturing business, wholesale or retail establishment, and other industrial and commercial businesses.

3. Core Responsibilities as a Freight Forwarder

As a shipper, you need to master some core responsibilities such as handling permits and freight forwarding documentation, organizing and planning shipping by different modes of transportation, and managing liability, insurance risk, and contracts in a domestic and international context.

As a shipper, you will need to learn how to record, accept, ship, and track the movement of stock, equipment, materials, supplies, and parts. You will be providing a wide range of services that you need good knowledge of, including:

• Customs compliance
• Deconsolidation and consolidation
• Storage and warehousing
• Inland, air freight, and ocean freight transportation

You will also be calculating cost, volume, and weight of goods, arranging insurance, negotiating rates, booking cargo space, and arranging schedules and routes. You’d liaise with clients to deliver invoices and quotations, agree and sign contracts, and give advice about the best route, mode of delivery, and the arrangements made.

As a shipper, you will be inspecting cargo against shipping documents and invoices, rejecting damaged items, and recording shortages. You should be able to operate equipment such as hand truck and forklift to unload and load, ship, and store cargo. You also need to learn to be able to assemble crates and containers, pack cargo to be transported, and prepare shipping instructions and identifying information.

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Types of Cargo Shipped by Rail

The main types of cargo that are shipped by rail freight transport include hazardous materials, special cargo, and consumer goods. Special cargo includes steel pallets, automobiles, oversized cargo, and products for which certain temperatures must be maintained. Goods that require refrigeration are usually shipped in refrigerator cars while extra heavy items are transported in Schnabel cars. Closed and open autoracks are used to ship vehicles while coil cars are usually used to transport steel pallets. Consumer products include items such as insect repellents, hand sanitizers, vegetables and fruits, nuts, textile industry products, etc. Many consumer products are shipped in containers but this depends on the type of cargo.

Hazardous materials are also transported by rail, for example, liquefied petroleum gas. Given the fact that hazardous and dangerous materials pose safety and health risks, they are subject to safety controls and can be shipped in mixed and single freight loads. Hazardous cargo is subject to different regulations, including the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Rail. Dangerous goods also fall under the Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail and EU Directive 2008/68/EC on the inland shipping of dangerous goods. The members of the International Forwarding Association strictly observe all relevant regulations and directives to minimize safety and health risks during transit.

Mining materials are also shipped by rail, including coal and iron ore. They are usually shipped from mining sites to ports, manufacturing plants, and towns and cities. Coal is transported in open cars because moisture does not have a significant harmful effect. Rail transport is also used in mines, and trains are equipped with safety features such as finger-tip controls, improved suspension systems, failsafe brakes, and fire-retardant batteries.

Finally, products such as fertilizers, sugar, and grain are shipped in covered hopper cars because they require protection from rain and moisture. High density cargo such as plates, coils, and steel pipes, on the other hand, are shipped in gondolas which are open-top vehicles transporting loose bulk.

Benefits of Rail Freight Transport

Rail transport offers plenty of benefits, one being lower greenhouse gas emissions as a result of traffic reduction and road congestion. This is also a cost-effective solution to ship goods over long distances, especially distances over 800 km. The fact that extra cars can be added to existing trains means that large quantities can be shipped at considerably lower costs. Rail transport is also more affordable than transport by truck because toll fees are often paid during transit.

In addition, trucks require regular maintenance to ensure safety, and the costs are paid by the shipping companies. Reliable schedules and transit times are added benefits. To this, rail freight transport is also a safe mode of transportation given the fact that trains have a good safety record.

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Thanks to the rapid development in technology in the past few decades, today the list of logistics companies from IFA and all freight forwarders around the world have the technological and communication means to track all shipments and goods no matter whether they are subject to small shipments, complete loads or specialized transportation.

With the advent of the new technologies, communication systems and information management systems, the companies from the European logistics network now do not need to perform most tasks manually, as most of them are almost completely automated, streamlined and much easier and simpler to complete.

Here are some of the recent innovations which have had a particular impact on the development of the logistics, storage and distribution and international forwarding services provided by the members of the International Forwarding Association:

The Internet

No doubt, the Internet has completely changed all of our lives, which includes the main processes of the supply chain, the storage, and distribution of goods, the international freight services and all other aspects of international and national commerce.

Today, the companies from the freight forwarders network readily share the data regarding the movement of the goods, and other relevant information with the producers, vendors and all other groups along the supply chain.

The Internet has allowed for much faster commercial transactions and shortened time periods between the actual purchase of the goods and their final delivery.

Thanks to the Internet, today the European network for transportation is successfully implementing new programs such as point of sale data sharing, just in time delivery, electronic information exchange and others.

Robotics and Automation

The rapid developments in the robotics and automation sphere have no doubt improved the efficiency of the services offered by the list of logistics companies from the European logistics network. Thanks to the automated cranes, robots and drones, the storage and distribution and the warehouse management have become much easier to manage, cheaper, requiring less human labor and time, faster and more efficient.

More companies from the freight forwarders network are implementing robots for preparing goods for pallet shipping, packaging, order picking, and others.

Also, there are modern automated sorting systems which allow for a much faster and more precise sorting of packages, goods, and small shipments, as compared to the times when the process was done manually.

Radio technology installed in the trucks allows for real-time tracking of each and every package onboard, even when intermodal transport in Europe or European groupage services are being offered.

The Tech-savvy generation

Today’s logistics professionals who are just entering the business have grown up using computers, mobile phones and other modern technology, which makes them more prepared to work with the latest logistics hardware and software being introduced by more and more of the forwarders throughout Europe.

As you can see, in the last several decades, there has been a major boost and improvement in the services provided by the international freight forwarding companies, which is largely due to the rapid growth of technological improvements and innovations which we are all witnessing in the last 20-30 years or so.

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What exactly is reverse logistics?

This is the process which includes all of the procedures implemented by the international freight forwarders network for dealing with product returns, as well as their repairs, maintenance, storage and distribution, recycling and dismantling. It is a process which includes all of the stages of handling the supply chain in reverse by the European logistics services with a maximum profit and efficiency.

What are the advantages of reverse logistics offered by the list of logistics companies?

There are multiple benefits of properly implemented reverse logistics procedures by the members of the freight forwarders association. In fact, they can affect the successful growth of any organization including a number of financial, societal and environmental advances.

By properly handling the inverting the flow of goods from the end customer back to the producer, the losses can be minimized and the sustainability of the products and materials can be enhanced.

The companies from the international freight forwarders network can help assist their customers in the process so that they can improve their profits, and meet their sustainability goals by recycling the returned products and materials, and by properly disposing of the ones which cannot be reused. They can also assist their customers in the process of moving the goods back to them for repair and reallocation.

Thanks to the modern management systems implemented by the forwarders throughout Europe, the management of reverse logistics has been vastly improved in the last decade. This is essential in modern days when the lifecycles of electronics and vehicles are shorter and when online commerce has become a much more complicated and booming process.

The actual advantages for the organizations from a properly managed reverse logistics process are:

• A significant reduction of transport, administrative and aftermarket support costs
• An enhanced velocity
• An increase in the service market shares
• Better achievements of the set sustainability goals
• Vastly improved customer services and increased customer satisfaction
• Higher retention levels

By improving the management of the reverse logistics processes, the members of the freight forwarders directory can also:

• Improve the visibility of the reverse supply chains
• Provide a better and faster response to customers
• Increase the productivity
• Combine traditional, inbound and reverse logistics in one well-synchronized supply chain
• Establish transparency of the operations in the supply network
• Automatically consolidate the data received from partners from the freight forwarders association and other European logistics networks

In conclusion

As you can see, the improved management of the reverse logistics programs by the international freight forwarding companies, and by the manufacturers can help save significant costs and allows for improved asset recovery rates. This allows for maintaining a competitive edge, keeping the customers satisfied, and enhancing the sustainability of the production and operational processes.

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Here are the most essential international freight forwarding and logistics news of the past year, which will no doubt affect the developments in the storage and distribution and European logistics as well as all other international freight services in 2019 as well.

Truck orders have soared

In 2018, there was a tendency for a steady increase in truck orders made by members of the European logistics network, as well as by global shipping companies. It is unclear whether the forwarders throughout Europe and the world are looking to replace their fleets or to simply increase them.

Amazon has announced a new plan for creating a delivery service network of partners

The e-commerce giant has announced its plans for increasing package deliveries and enhancing its national and international freight forwarding services by introducing new offers which will allow entrepreneurs and members of the freight forward association to actually set up their own businesses of delivering Amazon packages and small shipments.

In the US, the Electronic Logging Device directive has affected the forwarders of complete loads and other truckload shippers

The regulation for mandatory electronic logging devices in trucks which took effect at the end of 2017 has been causing an uneven impact on the various forwarders in the US and on international freight services which involve the use of trucks.

The fright transport association and worldwide carriers have gained an advantage in the pricing of the international freight services

The carriers from the freight forwarders directory have gained an advantage from the seller’s market when it comes to transportation. This is mainly due to the strengthened economy, the increased demand for international freight forwarding, specialized transportation, and other transport services, as well as the capacity and labor shortages which the logistics managers are facing.

There has been a boost of Global prime logistics rents

According to a report issued by CBRE, the rents for global prime logistics have become more profitable due to the improving worldwide economy, as well as the surge in the demand for goods which are purchased from bot store storage and distribution locations as well as online.

UPS Freight has agreed on a new long-term deal with the Teamsters Union

In November 2018, UPS Freight and the Teamsters Union reached a new 5-year labor agreement which covers about 11,600 UPS Freight Teamster Union members and includes tighter restrictions for subcontracting intermodal transport, higher wages, and additional protection for the drivers in the cities and other social benefits for them.

Uncertainty for the NAFTA deal

The free trade deal between the USA, Canada, and Mexico is under question in 2019, which has left people in the logistics and transportation business wondering how the new developments will affect the freight forwarding industry in the area.

FedEx has increased its operations to 6 days a week

Due to the boost in online commerce and the demand for quick deliveries, FedEx announced that it will be providing timely services in the US six days a week from September 2018.

The post The news and events which changed the world of logistics in 2018 appeared first on International Forwarding Association Blog.

Having such knowledge and skills can save a lot of time and money for all members of the European logistics network because they can avoid or minimize the risk of freight damage during the pallet shipping and other international freight services.Here are the main steps which each and every one of the companies from the International Forwarding Association always follows when they are palletizing goods for their European groupage services, for the specialized transportation for the storage and distribution as well as for all other international freight services they provide:

Using slip sheet for protection

The members of the international freight forwarders network always make sure to use a plastic slip sheet on the bottom of every pallet. Its main purpose is to protect the cargo by balancing the weight of the cargo and lowering the cases of compression due to the 4-inch space in between the pallet decks.

Making sure all boxes are stabilized

When preparing the pallets for forwarding, the list of logistics companies from the freight forwarders association always place the heaviest of the boxes on the bottom row. These are covered with at least one other row of boxes for added stability. If there are not enough boxes to complete a fully stacked pallet, the last few of them are place along the outside edges for balance and stability.

Keeping an eye for wider gaps

When using pallets which have gaps of 4 inches or wider, the members of the European network for transportation ensure that these gaps are properly bridged in order to prevent the compression resistance of the boxes of goods and their potential damaging during storage and distribution and when being shipped.

Stacking in columns

The freight forwarders from the European logistics services always make sure that the boxes are properly stacked one on top of the other in columns. They also stack all goods close to each other to ensure that the pallets remain stable and are safe during their international freight forwarding.

Preventing the interlocking of the goods

In order to reduce the risk of damage of the cargo, the members of the freight forwarders directory always stack the boxes with the goods aligned edge to edge and also corner to corner, so that the balance of the weight is kept. This can actually reduce the compression strength of the weight of the cargo by about 50 percent.

Using straps and stretch wrap

All forwarders throughout Europe use additional metal strapping or stretch wrap to secure all of the individual boxes on the pallets. Keeping the boxes banded and strapped together decreases the risk of damage or shifting during transportation and handling.

No overhanging

It is an important rule which is followed by the companies from the freight transport association to never allow the boxes of items on a pallet to hang over the edges and outside the borders of the pallets. This also decreases the chances of damage occurring due to lack of support and to an unbalanced weight on the pallets.

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The challenge in front of the firms, executing Pick & Pack services

For fast and seamless execution of the selection of the stocks and their packing, the coordinating of the efforts must be perfect. The biggest challenge is the execution of possibly bigger number of orders for maximum short period.

The increasing of the effectiveness of selection and packing

For the efficacy of Pick & Pack services to be increased, freight forwarders Europe use few strategies;

• Selection of divided stocks – It is done immediately after a new order is received. But this strategy is suitable for small storages, for big storages it is not effective and there is a time loss.
• The selection by shipment – via this, the workers of freight forwarders execute no more than one order at a time.
• Selection by zones – The storages are divided by zones and each one of the workers make selection of a particular zone, and if it is necessary to be executed an order with a selection of more than one zone, the worker from one zone give the order for more forward addition to the worker from the adjoining zone. The giving of the orders for many zones can be done both by hand and by conveyor-belt.
• Selection type, wave – combination of the selection of shipments and the one by zones. The shipments are selected by the particular worker only in the within the zone

Satisfying the expectations of the clients

The clients of online stores, who receive the ordered by them stocks via International freight forwarders association expect fast deliveries – within 24 hours or no later than 48 hours, they prefer the opportunities for fast returning of the stocks, if they decide to make use of the opportunity for returning in the granted by the tradesman term.

The firms of freight forwarders directory still don’t have a big experience in this new direction – the so called opposite logistics or returning the stocks of tradesmen and producers. And returning via Pick & Pack services. From big value is the maintenance of resources for processing the stocks and packing materials, so that the expectations of the clients can be met and, in that attitude, – for fast and comfortable returning of the stocks if necessary.

The Advantages of the Pick & Pack services

Offering services for selection and packing, the firms from European network for transportation ease the tradesmen and clients. The turnover of the online stores is increased too, they can offer a bigger variety and the clients can have a bigger choice and they receive the stocks fast and seamless.

With execution of Pick & Pack in the storage itself, instead of making the different stocks go to other places for labeling, is saved time and in the end – means.

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This is why the International Forwarding Association offers cross-docking as part of its international freight services.

What is cross docking and how can the International freight forwarders association help you with your inventory

Cross-docking is the practice of unloading products or cargo from an incoming truck or railroad car and loading it on outbound ones so that the need for storage is eliminated or limited to a minimum. The Freight forwarders association does this by sorting the goods intended for different destinations and combining the different loads into one transport vehicle or container for the same destination.

The forwarders throughout Europe can move your cargo from one transport vehicle to another directly with no or just minimal warehousing.  As part of our storage and distribution services, the companies from the international freight forwarding association can also provide staging areas where the goods are sorted, consolidated and stored until the load is complete and ready to be shipped.

The international freight forwarders network offers cross docking sorting, storing and combining in order to provide customers with speedy, efficient and cost-efficient European logistics services. The low cost of this service is achieved by combining loads and shipping only full truckload shipments.

The staging areas used by the international freight forwarders allow for a lowered cost and need for storage.

These cross-dock facilities are a key part of the infrastructure of the companies from IFA and are essential for moving the inventory from the producers to the customers or retailers.

Why trust the cross docking services offered by the European network for transportation

Our member companies are all experienced freight forwarders Europe and have a strong understanding of all Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems used for effective inventory management and customer needs.

We offer to consolidate your goods with others in a single vehicle or other integrated transport as a money saving and time-saving option for our customers. This can be done by one of our many European groupage services too.

The warehouses of the European logistics companies which are part of the freight forwarders network have designated cross docking staging areas for the sorting, consolidation and the storage of the goods waiting to be shipped. These storage areas are located in the major cities of Europe, so they are accessible to all customers who need international freight forwarding throughout the continent.

Additional services related to cross docking

The freight forwarders can also monitor the inventory and inform the customer whenever a good is gone out of stock and is needed for distribution too.

Thanks to the state-of-the-art software and hardware used by the freight transport association, our customers can always have real-time access to the tracking status of their goods and shipments.

We can manage and handle your inventory prior to its arrival so that the delivery process is quicker and is seamless.

Our freight forwarders can break down large loads into smaller ones and provide faster forwarding services by combining intermodal transportation services whenever necessary.

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