Freight forwarding agent, short for freight forwarding agent, refers to the business of operating on behalf of others, providing transportation procedures, picking up, sending, and transporting goods on their behalf.

Freight forwarding, some of which are intermediaries who do not have their own ships or planes, or shipping companies or airlines, are all freight forwarders responsible for transporting the goods entrusted by the client from one place to another through designated transportation routes. They act as agents for transportation companies (sea, land, air) to collect and collect goods.

The freight forwarding industry is positioned between shippers and carriers in the international freight market, accepting commissions from shippers to handle tasks such as chartering, booking, loading, document preparation, customs declaration, inspection, insurance, container transportation, container disassembly and assembly, issuing bills of lading, settling freight charges, and even presenting documents for negotiation and foreign exchange settlement.

Ocean freight operation generally refers to the operation of ocean freight business in freight forwarding companies, mainly targeting customers and commonly referred to as customer service operations. The process is divided into import and export operations. Taking container export goods as an example, the process is roughly as follows: consignment acceptance - booking - container making - customs declaration and packing - loading - unloading - notification of delivery - customs clearance - document exchange - delivery.

Shipping operations generally refer to the personnel in the freight forwarding company who inquire about and book shipping space with the shipping company or the operators in the shipping company.

Taking a freight forwarding company as an example, the shipping operation process is roughly as follows: inquire with the shipping company - book the shipment (under booking) - the shipping company issues the booking form (S/O) - the shipper picks up the container and loads the goods with the S/O - customs declaration - bill of lading replenishment - reconciliation - payment - bill of lading retrieval.

The operation process of large freight forwarding companies will be subdivided, with dedicated personnel for each operation, while small freight forwarding companies will have one person to package the above business. Some large manufacturers also have maritime and shipping operations.

Teach you how to understand the English explanation of SO documents from shipping companies

Upon receiving the booking form from the shipping company, please verify the following information:

1. Booking number

2. Ship name/voyage number

3. Cabinet type

4. Discharge port, destination

5. Material replenishment time, cut-off weight cabinet, and cut-off release time

6. Cabinet making time

7. Special requirements

English explanation of the shipping company's SO document:

Booking number: Booking number

Vessel: Ship name

Voyage: voyage

CY Closing DATE: container cut-off date, customs cut-off date

Closing Date/Time: Container Cut off Date

SI CUT OFF date/time: Deadline for Bill of Lading and Material Supplement Date/Time

Expiry date: Validity period, expiration date

Sailing date: sailing date/date when the ship leaves the port

ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival): Estimated time of arrival, date of arrival (ship's arrival at destination port)

ETD (ESTIMATED TIME OF DELIVERY): Ship departure date (departure date of the vessel from the port of origin)

ETC (ESTIMATED TIME OF CLOSING): Deadline

Port of loading (POL): loading port

Full Delivery Pickup Terminal: Heavy Container Terminal

Empty Cntainer Depot: Empty Container Depot

Loading port: loading port

From City: Place of Origin

EXP (export): Export

Final destination: Port of destination, final destination

Place of Delivery (POD) or To City: destination, place of delivery

Port of discharge: discharge port

Discharge port: discharge port

Load Port: Discharge Port

Dry: dry/without liquid or moisture

Quantity: Quantity

Cargo type: type of goods

Container number: Container number

Container: Container

Specific cargo container: Special cargo container

Number of container: Number of containers

Container size: container size

CU.FT: cubic feet

Cont Status: Container condition

Seal number: seal number

Seal No: Seal number

Seal type: seal type

Weight: Weight