If your business is fond of shipping abroad, you need to ensure you seek the services of a reputable freight forwarding company. After all, the freight forwarder you rely on can either break or make how smoothly your shipment goes.This is regardless of whether you are a business or an individual. For the international shipping to go as expected you need to ask your freight forwarder a number of questions before getting into any agreement. To ensure your items are in safe hands, here are two questions you need to ask your freight forwarder.
What Services Do You Offer?
With different types of shipping methods available, you need to settle on one that best suits your items. For instance, roll-on roll-off works perfectly for certain vehicles, whereas full or partial container shipping is ideal for most other items. You should therefore ask the freight forwarder how they can ship your cargo and check whether there is any solution for you. Aside from this, you need to determine if the freight forwarder offers additional services such as storage and collection. These services tend to make the entire process simpler thus doing away with the need for assistance from a different company.

How long will the Process Take?
Of course, you want to know how long it might take before your cargo arrives at the intended destination. This is regardless of whether you decide to opt for air freight or ocean freight. You should however keep in mind the duration it takes depends on the destination country and origin port not forgetting how often the shipments are made available. Be sure to find out the onset of the process including when the items ought to be ready for shipping. Through this action, you can make prior arrangements for customs clearance.
Final Thoughts
Before getting into an agreement with any Houston shipping company, you need to ask as many questions as possible. Keep a close eye on how they respond to your questions. If they seem to be hesitant with their answers, you should take it as a red flag since they may not help you with Hazmat shipping or any other service of choice. Relying on such a freight forwarder can be compared to digging your own grave since you may never get good value for your money regardless of how much you part with.