Here’s your guide to the most efficient way to ship freight by air.

‍How can your business optimise the efficiency of freight by air? 

You might imagine that air freight is already a highly efficient means of moving goods from one location to another – and indeed, you would be right. It is a service frequently chosen in situations where a given shipment must reach its destination within a particularly short timeframe – for example, to support another business’s day-to-day operations or to uphold high standards of customer service. 

But even bearing in mind how suitable freight by air already is for the delivery of goods by the tightest deadlines, there can still be scope to make an efficient service even more efficient. 

Here are some of the steps that you can take to help achieve such greater speed. 

Choose a reputable air freight forwarder 

It greatly helps if you turn to an air freight forwarding company that has a strong track record of continually implementing efficiency improvements. 

Every shipment journey will be different to the next, so you should seek out a freight forwarder that is able to handle complex and potentially unexpected logistics challenges. 

That will mean choosing a freight forwarding company that maintains strong relationships with an extensive network of airlines and carriers. Your chosen company should also be skilled and experienced in handling the necessary documentation and ensuring regulatory compliance. 

In addition, your air freight forwarder should possess a high level of knowledge in supply chain management and optimisation, so that they can devise and refine the processes that will get your goods to their destination so much sooner. 

Prepare and package your goods with air freight in mind 

Of course, you will need to carefully think about the packaging element with whatever freight method you use for your goods. But if you opt for freight by air, this might be an even greater priority, given the variety of handling processes that the package will be subject to over a journey that may also include transportation by road and sea. 

So, you should make sure your shipment packaging is strong and secure, for example, so that it won’t sustain damage even if heavier packages are placed on top of it. 

Be aware, too, of labelling requirements, and check that the destination country doesn’t impose any legal requirements impacting on the goods themselves or the packaging materials you need to use. 

Develop an open, collaborative relationship with your freight forwarder 

As a business looking to have shipments transported around the world, you shouldn’t regard yourself as a mere passive recipient of freight forwarding services. 

By considering your freight forwarder to be a partner to your business rather than a mere service provider, you can help build a strong, communicative, and collaborative relationship. This, in turn, will help them tailor freight by air to your needs. 

To learn more about our freight and logistics knowhow and solutions at KTL, and to receive a quote, please feel free to contact our team today.