Logistics
Working with a freight forwarder
A good part of your documentation lives in their system, and that is fine until the day it is not.
A good forwarder takes work off you: they prepare, file, resolve and store. The side effect is that over time your shipments' documentation lives in their platform and not in yours — and that only becomes apparent when something is needed and they are unavailable, or when you decide to change.
What should also live on your side
| Document | Why yours | When it is missed |
|---|---|---|
| Bill of lading and transport documents | It is the proof of the operation | In a claim, and in a hurry |
| Declarations and clearance receipts | They evidence what was declared and when | In a review, months later |
| Origin or health certificates | You requested them, or they did on your behalf | On the next shipment to the same country |
| The instructions you gave them | It is what gets compared if something went wrong | When deciding whose fault it was |
Important
The last row is the one hardly anyone keeps and the only one that defends you. In an incident, the forwarder's documentation tells **their** version: what they did and when. What says what you asked for is your instruction, and if it lived in an email from someone who has left, it does not exist.
How to work without duplicating effort
- 1
One file per shipment, with the essentials
Not everything they handle: the bill of lading, invoice, packing list and what you instructed.
- 2
Ask for copies at closing, not when claiming
A closed shipment is documented in two minutes; an eight-month-old one takes two days.
- 3
Keep what they send exactly as it comes
Without retyping or reassembling: if there is a discrepancy, it is compared with the original.
- 4
And record incidents on the shipment
Delays, holds, extra costs: it is what supports the annual conversation with them.
Watch out
The blind spot appears when you change forwarder. Their platform is theirs: access ends when the relationship ends, and with it your shipment history. **Nobody warns you of that on the day you sign with someone else** — it is discovered when someone asks for a clearance from two years ago and there is nowhere left to look. Taking copies before ending the relationship costs an afternoon; afterwards it can be impossible.
What improves the relationship as well as protecting you
The third changes the annual conversation: moving from "things are so-so" to "three holds for discrepancies and two for certificates" is what gets the problem fixed instead of debated.
Worth knowing
The same applies to customs agents, shipping agents and operators handling documentation for you. The procedure changes; that proof of what you asked for and what was done belongs on both sides does not.
›Is keeping copies a sign of distrust?
No: their archive answers their obligations, not yours.
›What if we use several forwarders?
All the more reason: it is the only place where the whole picture of your shipments exists.
›How long should it be kept?
Longer than the review period applicable to those operations, with margin.
A real case
The situation
An importer changes forwarder and loses access to two years of clearance history.
What you do
- Before ending the relationship, downloads and files the shipments in its own records
What you get
It can answer a later review without depending on a company it no longer works with.
The situation
The forwarder keeps the history and you do not.
What you do
- Keeps its own archive of every operation
What you get
Changing partner does not take the years with it.
The situation
Instructions are given by phone.
What you do
- Asks for written confirmation and keeps it
What you get
What was agreed stops depending on two memories.
The situation
A document is missing and clearance goes ahead on a promise.
What you do
- Records what was promised and who asked
What you get
The broken undertaking is documented.
The situation
A client asks about an old operation.
What you do
- Checks its own file
What you get
You answer without depending on the forwarder.
The situation
Three forwarders are used and each reports differently.
What you do
- Requests the information in an agreed format
What you get
What is received is comparable.
This article answers
- documentation held by the forwarder
- changing customs agent
- the forwarder holds my documents
- which shipment copies should i keep