Freight Forwarding and Customs Compliance – Why this Learnership is Essential to Your Company Toolbox

One of the biggest challenges that companies face today, is admin. It’s tedious, tiresome, and therefore often avoided. This avoidance more often than not, leads to catastrophic errors that could have been easily avoided through the implementation of a few simple but effective administration-related systems and habits. When it comes to the South African export industry, these small actions can be crucial to both the livelihoods of its employees, and to the growth of the economy.

Freight forwarding is made up of the processes of strategic logistics planning and execution for the international movement of goods on behalf of shippers. It is estimated that logistics costs 14% of the cost of goods in South Africa. This loss occurs as a result of inefficiencies that in turn are caused by a lack of confidence and competence in the field. In an effort to combat these deficiencies, companies have begun to enrol their employees in Freight Forwarding and Customs Compliance Learnerships or various more short-term skills programmes.

These qualifications are designed to improve and contribute to the basic set of skills that employees or potential employees already possess.  It includes skills that have proven to be a considerable asset in the trade and logistics industry such as effective communication, the ability to conceptualise 2 and 3D shapes, the ability to perform basic calculations, and data analysis.

In addition to this, learners will develop a greater understanding of the legal aspect of the industry. It is important for employees to keep updated with constantly changing regulations and legislature, simply because delivering the right goods at the right time determines the profit margin at which your business will operate.

Safety in the workplace is just as important as the bottom line, and sometimes in this business one dictates the other’s existence. During the course of the learnership, employees will therefore be taught safety skills that are acceptable at an international level. Perhaps most importantly on a basic level, at the end of the process, your employees will be able to tackle any administration task that they encounter.