Freight Broker Agent Jobs

No doubt, the freight industry offers rewarding career opportunities. This industry is one where you can acquire both new training and education, make a great difference in the world, and become a tech-savvy and team player. In fact, there are plenty of freight agent jobs waiting for you.

A freight agent is known for his or her ability to getting materials from one resource to another resource. But, he or she does not necessarily produce any cargo or even move it by himself or herself.

Being a forwarding agent, you may act like a travel agent for different cargo. This is where you will work with different clients and try to figure out their exact needs. You need to be skillful when it comes to finding the best deals.

Why Consider Forwarding Agent Jobs?

Can you imagine living in a world without freight forwarding services? For sure, many companies will find it difficult to provide products domestically or internationally, while consumers will experience inconvenience when it comes to acquiring products, from food items to healthcare products.

As you consider a forwarding agent job, you will be exposed to a new set of career opportunities since the freight forwarding industry continues to grow. So, you can expect that you can acquire new skills, knowledge, and experience.

A forwarding agent does not need to purchase a fleet of trucks or even hire drivers. All you need to do is a telephone and a laptop that will be used for seeking out opportunities and best deals.

Freight Agent Job Description

Freight forwarding agents are known to specialize in building as well as maintaining strong relationships with different types, including ship, rail, air, and ground. They are flexible and know how to think creatively. That is because they always expect changes when it comes to freight dynamics.

If you are interested in forwarding agent jobs, you need to be a creative thinker and flexible. Not only that, organizational skills are very essential, along with interpersonal skills. These skills are necessary for building your client bases as well as maintaining your list of shippers who can help you move all your freight. Then, it is also important for you to communicate effectively using at least two languages. That is because most of the freight forwarding companies are involved with international cargo.

Finding Forwarding Agent Jobs 

When it comes to career opportunities, freight forwarding companies are interested in candidates who specialize in finding new shipping partners and getting new customers. Aside from that, the ability to handle custom requirements and good, strong customer relationships are necessary.

Furthermore, the freight forwarding industry values experience. Instead of a college degree, you need to have years of experience in the industry as well as in-depth knowledge of the ins and outs of the shipping processes. If not experience, you need to display that you have a great interest and passion for being part of the industry.

Before entering any forwarding agent jobs, it is a nice idea to know the overview of each job.

GLOBAL FORWARDING AGENT 

As a Global Forwarding Agent, it is your responsibility to effectively understand the terminology, processes, and documentation involved in international shipping. You must know how to collaborate with international offices, co-workers, and third-party agents, ensuring that there are excellent customer service, efficiency, and constant customer relationship development.

For the accurate billing of customers, you need to understand and manage the shipment’s financial details. You have to be efficient in generating, filing, and maintaining up-to-date shipment documentation, customer records, reports, and more.

FREIGHT IMPORT AGENT

If you are interested in becoming a Freight Import Agent, you will be responsible for handling the customer needs when it comes to export and import documentation. You need to interact with the customers, carriers, and service providers and issue all the necessary invoices. You are also responsible for tracking any outgoing couriers.

Meanwhile, you need to be proficient in Windows-based programs and have excellent communication skills, especially verbal and writing skills. You need to display exceptional customer service along with problem solving skills. Thus, you must possess a positive attitude, self-motivation, as well as eagerness to learn and face new challenges.

FOREIGN FORWARDING SPECIALIST

Being a Freight Forwarding Specialist, it is your responsibility to receive, review, and then process any air import documentation from overseas customers or agents. You need to handle forwarding bookings from overseas as well as coordinate the move to particular destinations. Besides, you need to understand the pricing per client and agent fees so that you can accurately process the invoices.

Nonetheless, you need to be efficient in updating shipment status and issuing arrival notice. You need to show accuracy when it comes to acquiring entry documents intended for the custom entries.

EXPORT COORDINATOR

If you wish to be an Export Coordinator, you will be handling the end-to-end shipment coordination of goods from the distribution center to final destinations. You will be responsible for facilitating both domestic and international transportation processes, ensuring accurate and timely inventory movements. You need to maintain the tracing and tracking systems, capture all the monthly shipment costs and correct logistics expenses, and provide clear and effective communications to all carriers, port agents, ships, vendors, and departments when it comes to the status of outbound or inbound freight.

OCEAN EXPORT GLOBAL FORWARDING AGENT

By becoming an Ocean Export Forwarding Agent, one of your responsibilities is to support the customer supply chains directly. Apart from that, you need to conduct a careful analysis to help the customers and coordinate any cargo bookings while building and strengthening customer relationships. Thus, you need to ensure adherence when it comes to standard operating procedures, company standards, and government agency regulations.

As you enter the freight forwarding industry, expect you can have an opportunity to improve your current skills and acquire new experiences. Thus, learning and creating opportunities are almost limitless. So, there is no way for you not to consider forwarding agent jobs.