What is international freight transport? [complete guide]

Ports are key areas in the exchange of goods. They are the meeting point between land exchanges and maritime exchanges. After manufacture, most of the objects of our daily life have a long journey to reach us. To ensure that the trip goes smoothly, many logistics players work together. Let's discover the different stages of this long journey.

Who organizes the transport?

The freight forwarder or freight forwarder is the person responsible for organizing the transport of goods. He makes all the necessary arrangements to ensure that the goods arrive safely.

Indeed, parcel transport operations can be complex whether they are national or international. Several parameters are taken into account: regulations, insurance, type of transport, destination, etc. To ensure the smooth running of operations, the freight forwarder implements the solutions best suited to the specific routing needs.

It manages the entire supply chain. First, he finds a land carrier in the country of manufacture to transport the goods from the factory to the port. He then finds an ocean carrier to provide transport from one port to another. Finally, the freight forwarder finds a ground carrier to move the goods from the port to the end point.

It also handles all the legal, administrative and even customs declarations related to the transport of goods from one point to another. It is, for example, this professional who handles the chartering and grouping of goods for different shippers/recipients.

How is the transport of goods by sea going?

From the sender to the recipient, the transport of goods by sea takes place in several stages:

From factory to ship

Once manufactured, the goods are prepared and packaged in a sea container. This requires the intervention of a carrier, this is the export carrier. Its role is to position the container at the pick-up address so that it can be loaded. The freight forwarder can use several platforms to carry out the handling process in order to optimize the operation of loading the packages into the container.

Sea freight

Once the container is loaded, the carrier takes it to the loading port where it will be loaded onto a ship. But first, the export customs services check its contents, in particular to determine the value and characteristics of the goods (volume, weight, quantity).

After that takes place the transport of the goods from the port of loading to the port of destination by sea. This is sea freight; the crossing usually takes several weeks and the cost is set up by the shipping company.

Shipping by sea is an inexpensive way to transport large volumes. However, ships should always sail fully loaded to ensure profitable transport. It is the shipping agent (or freight agent), in his role as an amateur in the port, who takes care of it. The latter coordinates the boarding operations in order to ensure the optimum filling of the ship. It also organizes the monitoring of the goods transported.

During any stopovers of the boat, it is the consignee (or hull agent) who takes over. He is responsible for managing all the administrative formalities related to the ship before and during its stay in port. He informs all the port workers of the arrival of the ship and takes care of all the procedures relating to the cargo (retrieval of export documents, transport tickets for the goods, declaration to customs, etc. ). It also manages equipment, fuel, food, crew, etc.

Arrival of the ship at the port

When the boat arrives at the port, it is the harbor master's office that welcomes it. Its role is to plan all vessel entries and exits in order to organize traffic within the port.

The port officer works with the terminal concerned and the consignee to guide each ship to the quay where it must dock. The harbor master's office is also responsible for controlling the passage of dangerous goods.

What happens once you arrive at the port?

Once the ship has docked, local customs carry out import clearance. The import freight forwarder presents a customs declaration which the local customs consults to give customs values ​​(duties and taxes). It is the government of the country of destination that claims this customs clearance for goods entering its country.

Private stevedoring companies employ dockers to unload imported containers. These unload ships of all kinds of cargo (containers, rolling cargo, liquid bulk). They also take care of loading containers for export. Liquid bulk is emptied from the ship by pumping. These operations are carried out thanks to a set of port facilities facilitating the management of the flow of goods.

During this time, the shipping agent coordinates the disembarkation operations and ensures the proper handling of the goods. At the end of the unloading of the goods, the ship continues its journey to the next port. But before leaving the port area, the ship, the containers and the team are inspected by the control authorities (customs, maritime gendarmerie, harbor master's office, etc.).

Ground transportation can begin

This stage consists of delivering the goods unloaded from the ship to their final recipient. It uses two main modes of transport: road transport and rail transport.

After the transhipment operations, the containers are transported from the port to the logistics warehouses by truck or train. As soon as they arrive, the containers are docked and unloaded in the best conditions. Dock attendants check the integrity of the consolidation box to certify that the ship's shipment is compliant. After that take place the lead cutting and the unloading of the goods.

The containers are mainly composed of bulk packages and palletized goods. When consolidated, the unloaded goods still have to go through the sorting stage. Once this work is completed, the unloading is complete and the goods can be taken to their final destinations.

But before hitting the road, bulk goods still need to be packed. Those already on pallets no longer require reconditioning and can be taken directly to the road. When everything is ready, the packages are distributed to the various destinations (factories, points of sale, stores, etc.) by truck.