How Does a Shipping Agent and a Freight Forwarder Work Together?

A shipping agent works on behalf of the company and is an important person who knows all about local water transportation legislation. On the contrary, freight forwarder acts as a facilitator between two parties during cargo dealing. Their job is to negotiate on behalf of the clients on severe matters like fares, terms and conditions.

In simple terms, the shipping agent is not concerned about the clients and rather focuses completely on the ship and its activities. A freight forwarder, on the other hand, is focused majorly on client benefits.

Collaborative works between a shipping agent and freight forwarder

Despite the differences, there are few cases when you see both of them working together. In layman’s terms, you might say that their activities complement each other. The working process depends upon the nature of the cargo.

In the case of loading project cargo, the freight forwarder is given the responsibility by the client to coordinate the whole process. This includes determining the route, transportation of the goods from factory to destination, and nomination of the shipping agent. Thus, here, your shipping agent will work as a subcontractor to the freight forwarder.

Again, in the case of cargoes containing diesel, gasoline and ethanol, the client entrusts the shipping agent will full responsibility. Thus, from the arrival, tonnes carried on the ship, sudden stoppage of the operation, damage in transit to early departure – the shipping agent will record every piece of information and notify the freight forwarder.

In short, the shipping agent always tries to defend his ship and its interests, whereas the freight forwarded works on behalf of the client to save their interests. However, if the shipping agent doesn’t help the freight forwarder with local legislations and preset routes of transportation, then the cargo transportation will be delayed.

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