Freight Broker vs. Freight Forwarder

Broker. Load can pick up anywhere.
FF. Freight must come to their dock first.

 

A freight forwarded typically specializes in international shipping. A freight broker specializes in domestic shipping.

Yes they work together closely. Say a broker gets a customer that has an international shipment. He calls a forwarder because the forwarder has the connection and experience to get it moved with a steam ship line or airline or rail company. The forwarder is also licensed to do this.

Or Vice versa the forwarder has multiple shipments arriving at a port facility. He/she will partner with a broker to get the shipments moved by truck. The broker has access to trucks and trucking companies the forwarder doesn’t.

Yes it’s legal and they will have an agreement in place.

 

It’s not double brokering, it’s two different deals.
We work with a lot of freight forwarders. What they do is say a customer has something in Germany and need to be moved to Dallas, TX. They will hire a freight forwarder who will handle the logistics from the place in Germany to the port, loaded on a ship and shipped across the ocean, and then from the US port across land to the destination. This also can involve trains and planes.
Often the forwarder will just hire trucks directly, but they will also work with brokers sometimes to handle the trucking portion of the trip.