How freight forwarders add value to the logistics chain

© Stokkete

Logistics development manager at Alliance Shipping Bradley Waller has sat down with Air Cargo News to discuss the importance of freight forwarders and why supposed carrier plans to cut out the middlemen would fail. Mr Waller contends that airlines simply cannot duplicate the full range of services provided by freight forwarders to shippers. “Do they have the expertise or the resources to, for example, liaise with ground handlers in countries across the globe, arrange storage and delivery of the goods, or prepare documentation for payment, customs and insurance?” he asks. Rather than cut costs, he says to fulfil functions currently carried out by forwarders, carriers would have to extend their operational remit considerably. “This would add costs which, in all probability, would cancel out any proposed savings from cutting out the middleman.”