The advantages of freight forwarding are:
1. Give us more favorable freight;
2. Help us? Flexible handling? Date of delivery on the bill of lading. The original delivery date was 10, and the current bill of lading shows that the delivery date is 6, which relieves the liability for late delivery. Backdated bill of lading? .
3. Control the real right of the goods and seize the goods in time when customers are found to be fraudulent. This is mainly through the freight forwarding bill of lading, which needs to be at the port of destination? Change the order? Go and get the goods.
4. Track the dynamics of the goods, including when they arrive at the destination port, whether the customer has picked up the goods, and so on. The freight forwarder has a cooperative relationship with the shipowner and can query the internal transportation data of the shipowner online.
5. It can help to deal with emergency shipment, emergency customs declaration and other matters.
6. When necessary, you can export as an agent and handle various documents.
These things are good for avoiding commercial disputes and risk prevention, but it is difficult for us to do it without the help of freight forwarders. To put it bluntly, freight forwarders used to only transport, and most of these things belong to? Friendly assistance? Yes Therefore, behind successful foreign traders, most of them have an effective freight forwarding friend.
How to choose a good forwarder?
Nowadays, the competition in various industries is fierce, and there are countless freight forwarding companies. How to find a suitable freight forwarding friend?
On the one hand, as long as you do foreign trade and publish foreign trade business information online, the freight forwarding company with a keen sense of smell will soon find you as a volunteer. I believe many foreign trade friends have received such calls and faxes.
On the other hand, you can also visit various professional forums online. For example, Alibaba's business forum has a special logistics section. Com, is the place where freight forwarding friends meet and communicate. It is also a good way to see their exchanges and comments, which can not only increase their knowledge of international freight, but also see their respective levels and styles, and then contact them, understand the situation and make appropriate choices.
In addition, in search engines such as Google, use your city and major shipping ports, plus? By boat? Phrases and searches like this can also find a lot of information about freight forwarding companies.
After collecting some information about freight forwarding companies, how to choose? Mainly look at three aspects: superior routes, prices and service levels. There are many international routes, which are roughly divided into Europe, Mediterranean, America and Canada, Middle East, India and Pakistan, Southeast Asia (Japan and South Korea), Central and South America and Africa. The shipowners' companies all have their own main routes, with many voyages, favorable prices, many agents and relatively guaranteed services. Naturally, unlike shipowners, freight forwarders have formed their own advantageous routes. According to the route we need, we can choose different freight forwarders respectively. So when we meet with freight forwarders, we often ask the first sentence? Which line has an advantage? .
After the introduction of freight forwarders, pay attention to compare their own self-reported airline rates to see if they are really cheaper than others. When comparing prices, we should also pay attention to the fact that freight includes not only sea freight, but also various miscellaneous fees. We should ask the composition of the price quoted by the forwarder to avoid misunderstanding. Generally speaking, the total freight, including all kinds of miscellaneous fees, is called in jargon? Arlene? Price. AllIn price is close to our actual expenditure, which has the most reference value.
In terms of service level, the initial stage is mainly to observe and feel the freight forwarder's professional knowledge of international transportation and routes, and whether he is familiar with all the details of the whole process from booking to customs declaration and delivery. You can also use the name of this forwarder as a key word online to find out about the situation: whether it has been registered, whether it has been approved by the shipowner and so on. If the initial contact feels good, you can try to cooperate with some small orders for further understanding.
The secret of freight forwarding miscellaneous fees
Except the freight? Pure? In addition to freight, there are various miscellaneous fees, some of which are collected by the shipowner, some by the port of loading/destination, and some by the freight forwarder himself. Moreover, many expenses have no clear standards and are very flexible. Besides the shipper, we will also charge the consignee (that is, our foreign customers) some fees. This can easily lead to two traps: first, some freight forwarders charge more fees under various excuses, and second, freight forwarders adjust and transfer some fees between the consignee and the consignor.
Generally speaking, the freight forwarder the consignor is looking for is the customer, and the freight forwarder will try to keep the cost down to please the consignor, so it will charge less. When it arrives at the destination port, it will overcharge the customer (consignee) and rob Peter to pay Paul, and vice versa. This is why the same batch of goods, if we do CNF, can find our own freight forwarder, the cost is relatively low; If the freight forwarder is designated by the customer on FOB, the RMB miscellaneous fee will be much higher.
Knowing these inside stories, we will understand that we can't covet temporary cheap, thinking that the lower the price, the better. We must determine the price composition in advance to prevent some bad goods from being charged or passed on to customers after shipment, which will affect our feelings and cooperation with customers.
First of all, we must have a certain understanding of the composition of transportation and miscellaneous fees and learn to distinguish them? Rules? Charges and arbitrary charges.
Common miscellaneous expenses include:
1.ORC: port of departure surcharge;
2.DDC: delivery fee at the port of destination;
3.THC: Terminal operation (hanging cabinet) fee;
4.BAF: fuel surcharge, or FAF (fuel justice factor);
5.CAF: currency depreciation surcharge;
6.DOC: document fee;
7.PSS: peak season surcharge;
8.AMS: (American manifest system).
Since 2003, due to the need of anti-terrorism, the United States has stipulated that all goods shipped to the United States must be declared to the US Customs through AMS system. The same freight forwarder must truthfully report the cargo information to the shipping company. Therefore, the freight forwarder charges the shipper an AMS surcharge, usually about $25/bill.
These fees will be adjusted according to the time and route, but the whole industry is basically fixed, which means everyone will charge. If others don't accept it, there will be problems.
Under FOB conditions, special attention should be paid to inflated expenses. Of course, FOB is the freight forwarder designated by the customer. Freight forwarder? Please. Our target is foreign customers, and our domestic miscellaneous fees are definitely higher than CNF. What is this? Hidden rules? Things that can't be helped. But not too high. The local markets are slightly different, so you can find several freight forwarders to compare them according to the local conditions and get to know the local area. Rules? .
Take Shanghai as an example, the freight forwarder charges about 100 yuan? Customs declaration fee? 1around 50 yuan? Document fee? Sometimes thirty or fifty yuan/cubic meter? Handling fee? Wait a minute. It is appropriate to take a cubic bulk cargo under FOB conditions, and the RMB incidental expenses should be around 300 yuan. It's better to confirm these charges with the freight forwarder before shipment, or wait until we get on board? Kill the dog and bargain? , we are passive. Because the forwarder still holds our bill of lading, as well as the verification form and customs declaration form when entrusting the forwarder to declare. If we don't pay the miscellaneous fees according to the requirements of the forwarder, we won't get these documents in time, which will delay the work.
How to deal with freight forwarders?
Understand the market, it is better to bargain and save some freight. However, be careful not to be too harsh. Walking in the rivers and lakes, mutual benefit and mutual assistance, benefiting others and benefiting themselves, can make our relationship last for a long time. This is what freight forwarders do for a living. If we are too picky, the freight forwarder has no profit, and naturally there is no motivation to help. Especially when the shipping space is tight, it is inevitable that the goods will be delayed and the ship will be delayed. At this time, the freight forwarder will give priority to those goods that make money, and the freight is too high. Hey? Nature is left behind. Therefore, in order to cooperate for a long time, it is not necessary to care too much about the few hundred dollars when the freight forwarder helps at the critical time, so that the freight forwarder can make money and have the enthusiasm of diligent service.
When bargaining, we should also pay attention to the fact that international shipping prices always fluctuate. According to the freight peak season and the change of fuel price, there will be a slight increase or decrease, sometimes even reaching hundreds of dollars per 20-foot container. The fluctuation of this price is beyond the control of the freight forwarder, but the shipowner has the final say, and the freight forwarder can usually only confirm and predict the price this month. But in fact, we often need to ask the price in advance in order to calculate the external quotation according to the shipping price. Considering the negotiation period of the transaction, it is likely to take a month or two to deliver the goods. So when you ask the freight forwarder's price, you might as well tell them your approximate delivery time, let the freight forwarder tell you the possible freight change trend, and leave some room for accounting for the external quotation. Of course, some freight forwarders are eager to attract business, and when they are asked, they always say? Book shipping space as soon as possible. Will the price increase next month? Don't ignore them at such times. Ask a few more, understand the actual trend, and choose those freight forwarders who can tell the truth and provide reasonable suggestions.
After finding a good forwarder and negotiating the price, we should also actively cooperate with the forwarder. Arrange transportation safely and carefully, work ahead of time as long as conditions permit, and give the forwarder enough time to operate. Generally speaking, the process goes like this:
1. Book shipping space with freight forwarder;
2. The freight forwarder faxed the goods warehousing notice;
3. For the whole container of goods, the freight forwarder will arrange container trailers; According to the instructions of the freight forwarder's warehousing notice, deliver the goods assembled in the container to the designated warehouse on time;
4. Submit customs declaration materials (i.e. invoices, packing lists, customs declarations, verification forms and other required documents) to the freight forwarder in time, and entrust the freight forwarder to declare customs. If it is self-declaration, it shall be completed within the time limit stipulated by the freight forwarder;
5. At the same time of customs declaration and shipment, check the contents of the bill of lading with the freight forwarder, tell the freight forwarder customers all the requirements for the bill of lading, and ask the freight forwarder to make documents as required. The forwarder issues the bill of lading in the content format that we finally confirm;
6. After the ship leaves Hong Kong, the freight forwarder will notify the required expenses and issue a freight invoice. Let's pay and get the bill of lading;
7. About one month later, part of the customs declaration form and the verification form handed over to the customs at the time of customs declaration were returned. If the customs declaration is entrusted to a freight forwarder, the freight forwarder should hand over these documents to us for verification in time.
The timing is very particular. Generally, backward calculation method is adopted, and the deadline is determined first, and then the backward calculation time is calculated according to the operation steps.
For example, suppose we made a shipment with our customer on1October 20th 10 and shipped it to Sydney Port in Australia. Please note that there are not ships sailing to Sydney every day. Sailing usually takes weeks as the unit, such as there are boats on Tuesdays and Fridays. According to the investigation, the 20th is Thursday, and the closest voyage before was Tuesday's ship, 18. In this way, 18 is the final delivery date in our actual operation (if possible, it is best to arrange a voyage in advance, such as 14 Friday). In this way, even if there is any delay in catching the ship, we can still take the voyage of 18 and complete the delivery within the time limit. Otherwise, it can only be solved by countersigning the bill of lading).
According to the regulations, the ship on 18 must be shipped half a day to one day in advance, which is jargon? Intercept? And it is necessary to complete the customs declaration and shipment one or two days in advance. Cut off? . So in general, we have to transport the goods to the dock around 16 to complete the customs declaration. In this case, the date of 16 is Sunday. To be on the safe side, it is best to complete the customs declaration last Friday, that is, 14. Considering the time needed to book the shipping space and arrange the trailer loading, it is advisable to advance one week. Therefore, it is relatively safe to book the shipping space with the freight forwarder in about 1 1 day, complete the customs declaration in about 14 days, and board the ship on schedule in about 18 days. It can be seen that if the contract stipulates delivery on the 20th, we will start preparations on the actual operation day 1 1.
Of course, with the help of freight forwarders in an emergency, we can complete customs declaration and shipment in a short time. According to the above example, it is not impossible for the ship on 18 to complete the customs declaration on 17, but it is too mysterious and unconventional after all.
Know the process, basically understand the convention of scheduling, that is, generally book the cabin 1 week in advance, and complete the warehousing declaration two days in advance. After being familiar with freight forwarding, the time can be arranged more compactly, and it is not too late to book the shipping space three to five days in advance.
What needs special attention is the influence of holidays and weekends. Because customs declaration and shipment need the operation of exporters, freight forwarders, docks, customs and other parties, holidays and weekends are particularly prone to the disconnection of cooperation and contact. Especially the Spring Festival? May day? 、? Eleven? Long holidays are the most prone to shipping problems, and once problems arise, they cannot be solved in time. Therefore, when signing a contract with a customer, it is best to avoid delivery during the long vacation. If the holiday really needs to be shipped, first of all? Official agency? The connection work should be solved before the festival, and at the same time, we should keep close contact with the freight forwarder, ask for the emergency contact information such as the mobile phone number of the handler, straighten out the operation links in advance, estimate the possible accidents and prepare the necessary emergency plan.