While organising transportation, manufacturing companies more and more often shorten the supply chain by removing forwarding companies and coming into direct contact with carriers. The idea is to obtain financial benefits, but is that really so in practice?
Freight forwarding – is it really worth it?
Opponents see it as an unnecessary agency service, not only being an additional link in the chain, but also generating considerable costs. Definitely more arguments seem to favour the use of forwarding services. First of all, having a proven counterparty in this regard, the loader can be confident that:
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- the service will be executed effectively and professionally
regardless of whether it concerns freight transport to a distant country or a transport of large-size load, thanks to the expertise and networks of proven contacts the freight forwarder will be able to handle any task.
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- it will save them a lot of time
the forwarder will take over part of the contracting party’s obligations. Therefore, there will be no need to search for the best transport offers or wonder which route will be optimal.
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- they will gain financial benefits
these are the long-term financial effects, since in time, with proper optimisation of the logistics chain, the forwarder can make the remuneration of the contracting party pay off, even with interest.
In practice, there are situations in which the role of freight forwarding may prove to be unnecessary, for example when one is dealing with the carriage of a single load on a short route; however, in most cases forwarding is an investment, which in time can bring measurable benefits.