In vast and robust scenario of exchanging goods & services leading the demand of freight forwarders go beyond the expectations. Moreover the impact of COVID-19 results the changes in workforce on goods movement. The out-breaking activities of travel-bans and quarantine measures heavily disrupted the industry with demand for logistics solutions. The extreme population and expanded geo-graphical area of India is influencing the entire market scenario to turn the head towards logistics.

As we all know, India is 5th largest economy among the global countries, where the logistics & freight forwarding industry is contributing 14 percent in overall GDP of the country. According to the market report analysis of Morder Intelligence, the market size of freight and logistics estimated $288.18 billion in 2023 with growth rate of CAGR 7.67 percent. The numbers are projected to reach $484.43 billion with CAGR of 9.04 percent during the forecast period of 2023 to 2029. Overall the market size shows us how the freight forwarding industry is navigating towards the growth & innovation.

In this article, we will delve into different facets of freight forwarding industry and its impact on various industries in India.

“You won’t find it difficult to prove that battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics” - D. Eisenhower

Key Workflow of freight forwarding:
Export haulage is the first stage process in freight forwarding. At this point, the transportation of goods from manufacturing company to freight forwarding warehouse will go on. It involves packaging, booking, registering, prepping the goods for shipments. Here, the mode of transport may be varying according to the industry, i.e. ocean, ground, air. The duration of haulage ranges from hours, days and weeks. It predominantly depends on the mode of transportation and the tendency of the items.

Next to that, the process of custom clearance which is getting approval for items from the Indian authority of customs. Each and every country has its own rules and regulations to ensure the documents of license, insurance certificates, and bills and so on. This process is usually handled by custom agencies and brokers; they submit necessary supporting documents and details to authority on behalf of the respected company. In this process, timely clearance also matters, if we delay to get custom clearance, there are possible chances to deny the approval for shipments.

After completing custom clearance, the process of Items check point occurs when the receiver side unloads the goods in to warehouse. The receiving team has to inspect each and every item properly whether there is any damage or misplacement happened. The logistics team also makes sure that the target locations will accept the shipments. If the shipment contains any restricted items such as flammable liquids, drugs, alcohol and perishable items, then the freight forwarding team will ensure that the items meet the proper guidelines, especially for international shipments.

After finishing the import custom clearance, the transport company arranged by the team of freight forwarders checks the paper documentations thoroughly. Here, the cargo offload from the transporting vehicle or container and prepare the goods deliver to the destination at forwarder’s warehouse. The Final process is import haulage; this process involves the transportation of goods from the port of arrival to the consignee's designated area.

After the goods arrive at the destination port, it needs to be transported to the consignee's location or warehouse for further process or distribution. Import haulage ensures the seamless movement of cargo from the port to the final destination, using efficient transportation modes and adhering to rules, regulations & customs necessities.

Applications of freight forwarding in various industries:

Manufacturing: Freight forwarding enables manufacturers to import raw materials & components from international suppliers, ensuring a steady supply chain. It also helps in exporting finished products to global markets, handling logistics, customs clearance, and transportation. Stockarea, Addax Logistics, Mahindra Logistics are major freight forwarders in India providing exceptional logistics services for manufacturing Industry. They creating extraordinary arena for shippers and businesses to find the ultimate transactional match.

Retail and E-commerce: Freight forwarding supports the retail and e-commerce sectors by managing the transportation of goods from manufacturers or suppliers to distribution centers and retail stores. It ensures timely delivery, inventory management, and efficient supply chain operations. Freight forwarding service providers such as Delhivery, Ekart Logistics, Ecom Express have been providing services for several years in India, especially focusing on retail and e-commerce industry.

Automotive: Freight forwarding assists the automotive industry in transporting vehicles, spare parts, and components between manufacturing plants, dealerships, and customers. It handles logistics, customs clearance, and specialized transportation requirements for oversized or delicate automotive products. TCI, Varuna Group are major auto-logistics companies in India, they are providing ultimate warehousing and logistics solutions for automotive ventures.

Imagining businesses to connect and rotate products & services seamlessly without freight forwarders is impossible

Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare: Freight forwarding plays a critical role in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, ensuring the safe and efficient transportation of temperature-sensitive medicines, vaccines, medical equipment, and supplies. It adheres to strict regulatory requirements and provides specialized handling and storage solutions. Batco Integrated Logistics, Shine Cargo, Seashell Logistics are best freight forwarders offering world-class solutions for pharma-logistics, handling all categories of pharma products and connecting the core businesses via exports as wells as domestic imports.

Agriculture and Food: In the agriculture and food industry, freight forwarders enable transporting perishable goods, such as fruits, vegetables, seafood, and dairy products, to domestic and international markets. They ensure proper handling, temperature control and compliance with safety regulations for food items. In India, the top Agri-freight forwarders are Adani Agri Logistics, WeFreight, and Leap Agri Logistics providing customized logistics models to empower the farmers as well as agriculture. As the food products needs additional maintenance, they provide advanced preservative systems to maintain the food quality during shipments.

Rise of startups in freight forwarding: The rapid growth of freight forwarding industry sowed fruitful seeds for emergence of startups. Knowing the demands and requirements in this field, they are making evident transformation by introducing innovative solutions. They leverage digitization for documentation to improve the process of custom clearance seamless. They use Artificial Intelligence (AI) for automating the manual movements which are insisted by automated solutions. This activity helps the businesses to encompass the supply chain plans and estimate the costs earlier.

Using AI, they are optimizing the cargo routes and preventing the unexpected backlogs during the process. Startups provide ultimate customer-centric services by enhancing the transparency in their services. They use Internet of things (IoT), to provide extreme visibility on products as they can easily monitor the status of cargo during transportation. In freight forwarding, one conventional worry is about transferring the sensitive information about the products and relevant data.

To cater this risk factor, the emerging startups use block chain technology. By offering virtual channels to improve the safe & secured communication between the parties, they are ensuring trust and quality among the businesses. As new startups and innovations pop up, the freight forwarding industry will remain highly fragmented and competitive in upcoming years.

Finally, as the global economy continues to evolve, the role of freight forwarding becomes crucial components on connecting the businesses worldwide. In the context of developing country like India, the need and necessity of freight forwarding is immeasurable these days. Here, the new businesses are emerging increasingly; hence they can serve niche markets for freight forwarders and make internationally competitive. Regardless the well-known logistic companies, startups are also pushing the industry to move forward with innovative solutions and technologies. Recognizing all the factors, the freight forwarding service providers are being forefront in enhancing the connectivity between the global and domestic metrics. Undoubtedly, they are at the point of revolutionizing the Indian trade and transportation by ensuring transparency, efficiency and sustainability.