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Logistics is a subcategory of supply chain management that refers to the management of the movement of goods or services from the point of origin to the point of consumption.

What is Freight Logistics?

Freight logistics is a further subcategory of logistics involving only freight. There are two types of logistics, namely inbound logistics and outbound logistics.

Inbound logistics is a primary component of logistics and involves the procurement, transportation, and storage of products, materials, or parts from various locations for assembly or production.

Outbound logistics refers to all the supply chain activities involved in the transportation of the finished product to the distributor, to the retailer and, ultimately, to the end consumer. Transport can be carried out via air, sea, rail, or roads.

There are several other subcomponents of logistics, including:

  • Procurement logistics, for example, market research and supplier management
  • Distribution logistics, which involves the delivery of the finished product to the end consumer
  • Reverse logistics, which is all the activities related to the reuse of products
  • Production logistics, which refers to all logistic processes within a value-adding system

What is the Difference Between Shipping and Logistics?

There is often some confusion as to the difference between shipping and logistics. The essential difference between shipping and logistics has to do with scope.

Shipping refers to the transfer of goods from one place to another via air, sea, road, or rail. To understand logistics, one has to take a step back. Logistics is the administration of the process of acquiring goods, storing them and, finally, delivering them to the end user.

The logistics of physical products involves the coordination of specific areas of specialization, including information flow, production, inventory, and storage. Shipping is one of these areas of specialization that forms part of logistics and is, therefore, an integral part of logistics.

Logistics and shipping are both key components of a supply chain. If one or the other is lacking, chances are that the business will experience problems relating to inefficiency.

What is Freight Forwarding in Logistics?

Freight forwarding is a critical element of logistics and involves the movement of goods around the world by making use of a combination of sea, road, rail, and air shipping services.

Say, for example, you want to ship products from your warehouse in Dallas to a customer in London. The freight forwarder will pick up the product at your warehouse and pack it, place it into a container, and arrange for all necessary export permits.

The freight forwarder will then book the shipping, deliver the product to the port or airport, handle handovers between shipping companies, receive the product at the airport in London, take care of nationalization, and deliver the product to your customer’s door.

Freight forwarding differs from shipping in that shipping only involves transporting the product from point A to point B.

Contact Brimich Logistics

Brimich Logistics specializes in supply chain management and third-party logistics. If you are interested in learning more about freight logistics, or if you need high-quality logistics solutions, contact Brimich Logistics today.