I have noticed that many newbies here keep asking for the cheapest or best shipping company or forwarder or freight rate from "x" port to "x" port.

There are many many shipping companies/lines out there and even more logistics companies and freight forwarders. It is true that all of them have their own area of
expertise - some are better than others, no doubt. However, nearly all of them can
provide you with essentially the same service (of course, there are exceptions).

By making a few phone calls to LOCAL (ie, in your own city) shipping companies and forwarders and comparing their quotes, you will be able to narrow down on a rate or quote that should be workable/suitable for your shipment.

I personally would prefer to make local phone calls and check on my own rather than rely on
someone in another country to guide me on "cheap" freight rates. Isn't it always better
to contact someone locally than overseas ? Every major port and city has a list of
shipping companies, forwarders and the like. What better security could you possibly have ?
You know your new shipping contact will be based in the same city as you and is easily accessible! No language barrier, no communication problems. That's like having complete peace of mind, I would think.

A local point of contact is all you need to get the ball rolling, no matter where your

goods are. If you need to ship your good to or from one corner of the world to the other,

they are there to help arrange things for you. All good forwarders and shipping companies have offices or agents/partners in most major ports/cities.

It's all good to ask people for guidance but asking them for the "best line" or "best forwarder" etc is not always the way forward. The person replying you may have about 50-60 containers per month with the liner or company he recommends to you - you, on the other hand, may
have just 1 LCL shipment to start with ! So, is it realistic to expect the same rate ? The company being recommeded to you may not necessarily be the best/cheapest for you at that stage.

Of course, the situation could be reversed as well and you may have more cargo on
hand - well, then where do you stand ? Do you accept someone's advice on their rate
being "good" (consider that you may have 2 x 40' while this person is advising you
their rate for just 5-6cbm worth of goods)....

It helps to know the major shipping lines and major logistics/forwarding companies.
More often than not, these are the best ones around in terms of service, turnaround time,
rate, etc. This is taking nothing away from the smaller companies, who in some cases
can provide even better service than the big boys (call it personalized service if you will).

With time, experience and of course frequent shipments, you may just come across a genuine diamond in the context of a logistics service provider.

I'm afraid I cannot list names of major shipping companies and forwarders here as we (Moderators) are not allowed to make recommendations et al (it would be misconstrued as advertising on behalf of such companies, keeping in mind the nature of this post....)

So, my advice to the newbies out there would be to spend some time looking for a good
logistics partner on your own by making some phone calls to relevant companies in
your own city to start with. Remember the time and effort you put into sourcing a
good supplier or trading partner - it helps to put the same time and effort into "sourcing" a
good freight forwarder / logistics company / shipping line too. It's a relationship that
will prove vital to the running of your import/export business - and calls for the due
effort to be put into it.

To start with, just look up Shipping lines / Freight forwarders / Transportation companies /
Logistics services in your local telephone directory. Even if you do not have a hard copy
on hand, you should easily be able to find a listing on the internet for your city.

Hope this helps. Please feel free to leave your comments and suggestions too.

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