Why Using A Small Independent Freight Forwarder Can Be Good For Your Business

The freight forwarding business is a massive industry earning literally billions of pounds every year; DHL post revenues of nearly £12bn annually. That being said, how should you choose your freight forwarding company? Should you essentially ‘go with the flow’ and choose one of the larger, global companies that we see all over the place or should you choose a smaller, more independent freight forwarder?

The decision to go with a smaller freight company has several benefits not least because they have the advantage of lower overheads and expenditure. Why is this a good reason to choose them? Well, for a start they could very well be in a position to undercut the larger corporations and offer a discount. Because the bigger and more globalised businesses generally only operate at fixed rates so as to cover their costs and to consistently appear to be making a profit, the smaller companies are not so superficially conscious and therefore can often do the same job at a lower rate while not sacrificing any of their profits (due to the smaller overheads that we mentioned) or quality of service.

Secondly, a smaller freight forwarding company will no doubt offer much more of a personalized service. The worst thing about using a massive corporation is that you often just feel like another statistic; you never get the compassion and tailored service that you do with independent freight forwarders. If something were to go wrong it is far more likely that the smaller freight company will do everything in their power to rectify it as soon as possible whereas the larger corporation would probably have several problems going on at once and therefore it would take longer to fix the issue.

Indeed, you can find that you will have much more choice when it comes to using a less well known freight forwarding company. Many of the bigger household names have links with just a couple of airlines or shipping lines and routes and therefore it will have to be those that you use; however with a smaller freight forwarder you will, more often than not, have the choice of which airline of shipping route to take based on your preference. Whereas you may get a slight discount with a bigger company based on their links with a few select haulers, you will be able to select the route that you need with an independent freight company and this frequently means that you will receive your goods quicker and more efficiently.

The smaller freight companies out there can sometimes have a tough time of it however by using them you will be ensuring that you are given a more personal experience, often at a better price and certainly more choice when it comes to the way in which your products are delivered.