Wholesale and freight forwarding – a strong team in everyday distribution

The cooperation between wholesale companies like Häffner and business partners in the field of logistics is not only indispensable in everyday work, but also requires a solid basis of openness and trust among each other, so that the orders can be processed smoothly. For many years, Häffner has found a reliable logistics partner in the freight forwarding company LSU, which regularly transports hazardous goods at home and abroad.

Day 1: How do you set freight prices and who drives which tour?

After our trainee Hanna Koch completed her first training period in the in-house logistics department, she was now allowed to get to know the daily work routine at the forwarding agency LSU. On the first day, she was warmly welcomed by her contact person Mrs. Zadow and promptly the schedules for the next two taster days were set out. Everything was well organized and timed to give Hanna the best possible overview of all relevant departments. We started in the Customer Service department. This is where both customer contact and direct order acceptance take place. Hanna was also able to learn how freight prices are set and how EDI processing is carried out for local transport. In addition to the bureaucratic preparation of orders, the next step in the local traffic scheduling department is the crucial pivot of a forwarding company’s daily routine. Hanna therefore spent the second half of the day with her colleagues at LSU in the route planning department. Not only are the individual trips planned there, but it is also possible to find out at any time where the drivers are at the moment, how many stops they still have ahead of them or whether delays have to be expected due to a traffic jam, for example.

Day 2: What are rolling cards and what happens when a shipment is tracked?

On day two, Hanna was first allowed to support the Customer Service department again. She was then given an overview of the groupage area. This is where all the goods are located that are shipped during the course of the day in the local transport area. This has to be organized! For this reason, so-called “roll cards” are created as goods accompanying documents so that the groupage loading lists can be traced at any time. The roll cards also play an important role in export. Therefore, Hanna was also allowed to take a look at this department after the lunch break. In addition to creating the roll cards, the LSU employees here also take care of order entry in the export business. They also track down missing consignments, which can unfortunately happen from time to time in the turbulent day-to-day business of freight forwarding. In order to be able to help customers quickly and reliably, specific investigations are carried out to determine the location of the goods in question.

A completely successful internship

At the end of her two-day internship at LSU, Hanna was bid farewell by Ms. Zadow. “After my time in the logistics department at Häffner, it was exciting to experience the freight forwarding side live for once and see how their daily work routine is structured. Now I have an even better impression of the logistical performance that stands behind route planning every day and the challenges that have to be faced. I had a lot of fun at the LSU freight forwarding company and I would like to thank them for the informative internship and the friendly on-site support,” Hanna Koch sums up after the second day.

We at Häffner are very grateful that our partner LSU supports our trainees with the opportunity of a short-term internship and look forward to many more years of successful cooperation!

Picture 1 and 3 kindly provided by LSU.