Working with a Shipping Agent

With every international shipping company, there are people abroad that are set up to help. Some of these people are a part of the same international shipping company, but some are agents at different ports around the world that are partnered with a freight forwarder or NVOCC. They work together so they can use the ports as part of their global shipping services. This can create a much broader range of where they can ship and it allows their customers more options.

Some shippers will shy away from companies who use agents. They think they need to have one company handling their international shipping cargo or they will have problems. While this may have been true ten years ago, there is very little proof of that now. It used to be that people might be waiting for days sometimes before finding out about their cargo. Now, with all of the technology we have at our disposal, using agents is just like using people from our own companies. All information can be uploaded and immediately accessible to the customer and in real time.

As long as you have found a reliable freight shipping partner, their agents should be just as reliable. While there are always going to be companies that have issues, it is a lot easier to have a direct link to your cargo abroad. For some people, trusting a shipping agent can seem like it could be asking for trouble, but if you want to ship cargo internationally, using agents can be a great option.