The Functions of Air Freight Forwarding Companies

By Felicity Lightbody

Air freight forwarding is a mechanism by which goods of traders or businesses are transported to its destination. These services firmly assure that condition of the goods will be preserved and merchandise will be sent on the contracted rate. The freight companies actively coordinate with other type of establishments like trucking companies, product carriers, etc. for timely delivery of consignments.

The freight delivery service provides the estimates and services to their clients. The freight cost varies depending upon the location where it needs to be sent. If the product which is to be sent requires refrigeration, then additional payment is charged by these companies. All the shipping and other necessary documents are arranged by these air cargo forwarding companies.

These freight companies can be either domestic or international depending upon the destinations served by them. These companies closely coordinate with various airlines in their flight schedule for forwarding goods. The companies which have local operations mostly have flat rate on the goods which are shipped. These air freight forwarding companies and even inform the arrival of goods to their customers.

The freight forwarding companies having international operations are more sophisticated in their operations. In order to ensure the timely delivery of goods to their destinations, these companies arrange for the shortest routes to the destination by selecting the appropriate airlines. They ensure the secure and safe transport of fragile products.

These air cargo forwarding companies arrange for airway bills, NVOCC (Non Vessel Operating Common Carrier). Risk management and warehousing is also arranged by them for their customers. It is much easier to ship parcels and letters through these air cargo forwarding services. For larger products, different methods are adopted for their transportation and weight and size of the product matters a lot.

There are basically four categories in air freight forwarding: express air freight forwarding, TL and LTL forwarding and parcel forwarding.

The express air freight forwarding involves transportation of personal or business items which are light in weight. Slightly bigger items are included in parcel air freight forwarding. Packaging of products is sometimes done by these companies. The much bigger cargo is handled by the TL and LTL air cargo forwarding.

Though majority of air cargo forwarding companies deal directly with their customers, the much bigger companies make use of brokers to deal with their clients. All the air freight forwarding requirements are taken care of by these brokers on their behalf.

Felicity is a intermittent author, writing occasional articles in the UK about private charter flights and business logistics services. .