Freight Forwarders act as agents of merchants/shippers. Many forwarders
act as consolidators too, ie, combining small lots of cargo into big parcels/full
container loads. Generally they issue forwarder B/Ls (House B/Ls) to each
shipper. Under this B/L they accept responsibility as the agent of the shipper
only. Incase of an issue, the holder of the B/L will have to take it up with
the actual carrier.
NVOCCs (Non Vessel Operating Common/Container Carrier) – When a forwarder acts as a carrier he is
termed as a NVOCC. Though NVOCC is not the actual ship operator, his role is
same as that of a principal and accepts the carrier’s responsibilities.
Both freight forwarders and
NVOCCs are important customers of the lines. Their profit is the difference of
freight rate received from shipping line and that charged to the shipper, plus
the margins from pre/on carriage, documentation and other value added services.
