Freight companies all claim to be the best, but how can one find a truly reputable international shipping company?

Shenzhen has 6,000 freight companies, but many are small-scale agents run by a few people out of urban villages, yet they all claim to be big companies. It’s easy to be deceived if you're not careful. Customers engaging in international trade need reputable large-scale international shipping companies for assurance. How can one find a truly reputable international shipping company? I've been in the international shipping industry for 26 years, and I can say there's no secret in this field that I don't know. Here are two aspects to consider when choosing a reputable international shipping company.

First, examine which associations the company has joined. If an international shipping company has joined some authoritative associations, it is also a form of guarantee for the customers themselves. For instance, if a customer cooperates with our company, Hongmingda Logistics, and something goes wrong, and we don’t handle it, the customer can complain to the association we belong to, which will strictly restrain us.

As a veteran international shipping company, we have joined many logistics associations, such as:

WCA: World Cargo Alliance, a global network of freight forwarders; we are a senior member of WCA (87909).

CIFA: China International Freight Forwarders Association;

WIFFA: World International Freight Forwarders Alliance;

ISEA: International Shipping Enterprise Alliance; ISEA is an international alliance of shipping enterprises;

JCtrans: JCtrans is one of China’s leading international freight forwarding companies;

SIFFA: As a vice president unit of SIFFA, Hongmingda Logistics has deep involvement and contributions in the field of air logistics.

These associations can help us provide many reliable agency services. Foreign associations can help us filter out high-quality freight forwarders and assist with transshipment. This is very important for a freight forwarding company.

Secondly, you can even investigate what lawsuits the international shipping company has had! This may sound unreasonable since people usually avoid talking about it, but this is indeed an experience-based suggestion. It can indirectly reflect the scale and business capability of an international shipping company. The larger an international shipping company, the more diverse clients it encounters and inevitably, disputes arise. Just like even normal people often wade in water without getting their shoes wet. But the key is to view this issue objectively. It doesn’t mean that having lawsuits implies the company is bad; the focus should be on who is right or wrong. If an international shipping company with over 20 years of experience has lawsuit records but is still operating normally and growing, it actually indicates that the company has a large business volume and is conducting its business with integrity.

If a company frequently engages in irregular operations and opportunism, it will certainly have many lawsuit records, but it will definitely not operate for over 20 years and grow. On the other hand, if an international shipping company has been in business for over 20 years without any lawsuit records, that’s a red flag!

Just yesterday, I heard news about two small international shipping companies in Ningbo going bankrupt. This industry is indeed a mixed bag, so one must be vigilant to avoid being deceived.

As an international shipping company with 26 years of experience, we care more about our customers' needs than they do. Unless there are natural disasters or other unforeseeable events, our on-time rate is 99%. If you have international transportation needs, please feel free to contact us at jerry@swwlogistics.com.cn. We are confident that you will be satisfied.