Consider marrying your freight forwarder too!

At CargoTrans, Loves People is one of our core values. We focus on investing in happy relationships with all stakeholders and getting to know people on a deeper level to understand what is important to them. You treat everyone better than they expect.

It’s often said that you “marry” your Customs Broker and “date” your Freight Forwarder. While for many this strategy works, I would argue that in the current state of the world and with volatility in the freight market being the norm one should consider marrying/partnering with both. In fact, I would argue that a marriage/partnership in any environment will over the long term prove valuable and necessary.

And yes, you should LOVE your forwarder/broker/3PL. Suppose your company’s product or components are sourced overseas. In that case, your logistics provider – forwarder, broker, and 3PL are an integral part of what you do, and the truth is without them your product can’t be delivered. LOVE is the answer.

Professional and personal partnerships are committed to unpacking each other’s “baggage.” (Let’s hope it’s carry-on size and fits into the overhead compartment. ) Every company has shortcomings in the same way all individuals have gaps or “opportunities” to learn. The right partners collaborate and work together to unpack and make things better.

Depending on the size of your business – complexity, number of shipments and trade lanes- monogamy may not be your jam. You may need 2-3 forwarders/brokers.

While I’m biased, I recommend that anything under 3k entries per year be centralized with one broker that provides you with full visibility – what we call our control tower solution.

Here are the reasons you should marry/partner
with BOTH your forwarder/broker

Commitment to continuous improvement

The right long-term partnership/relationship often pays off. When two parties are committed to figuring it out one creates stability and trust. Trust creates an environment of open, honest, and kind communication. This means difficult conversations are had and feedback is heard – positive or negative. Most importantly there’s real action and seriousness around change.

Efficiencies

Constantly switching and redirecting staff and suppliers can create chaos and make a transactional relationship. Imagine if every time you did your job the company interviewed to find someone else who would work for less. Not a good vibe, right? While saving $50-$150 per container may be appealing – especially if you have volume, I encourage you to have an abundance mindset. You should of course benchmark your partners to ensure rates are in line with the market. At the end of the day everyone should want their partners to make a fair profit or else the market does not work and you’ll end up with the situation we have with ocean carriers – only a few major players that have lots of power. Use the time you get back to focus resources on your product development or sales/marketing. Or better yet – have a mindful approach and create efficiencies with your partner that will allow you both to save time and money, improving margins on both sides.

Value Adds

If the tactical/transactional aspects of the partnership are “set” then you can both focus on how to add value and efficiencies through technology, integration, trade compliance, duty optimization strategies, etc. This mutual investment will pay dividends over the long term. Imagine an API or data feed directly into your ERP providing better visibility and accuracy of where your widgets are in their journey.

Transparency and Planning

In today’s volatile freight markets sharing information like projections and supplier details – allows for logistic partners to plan accordingly especially when capacity is scarce. Not to mention that partnership accounts will have higher priority. And in the most extreme circumstances, logistic partners must be honest and transparent if they can’t service you in the way they want to. While at times we may hear something that isn’t ideal, we all deserve the truth so we can then make the best decisions for our business.

Relationships we LOVE

In today’s volatile freight markets sharing information like projections and supplier details – allows for logistic partners to plan accordingly especially when capacity is scarce. Not to mention that partnership accounts will have higher priority. And in the most extreme circumstances, logistic partners must be honest and transparent if they can’t service you in the way they want to. While at times we may hear something that isn’t ideal, we all deserve the truth so we can then make the best decisions for our business.

Happy Pride!

Questions? All you have to do is contact us.

#makingtheworldsmaller