Here are some terms frequently used in our profession who shall can you useful:

Freight forwarder/ forwarding agent
Freight forwarder/Representative
Liner agent
Port stevedoring
Road chartering
Ships agent
Storage (Provision of services)

Freight forwarder/ forwarding agent:
The forwarding agent organises, coordinates and chooses his subcontractors.  He personally undertakes to send goods in the state he receives them and not only answers for his mistakes but also those of the shipping agents he deals with, in his own name, for the complete execution of the trip. He is as much liable for his own mistakes as those of his substitutes.  He therefore has a strict liability to perform as determined by his principle. The forwarding agent's obligation is therefore not a simple "obligation of means" like that of the freight forwarder; it is a strict liability to perform.

Freight forwarder/Representative:
The transit/customs activity is one which consists in completing all administrative and customs formalities on behalf of customers, in order to carry out the passage of goods through the port or at the border. He is in charge among other things of:

• The accomplishment of bills of entry and the payment of customs and taxes.
• The drawing up of shipping documents.

The representative carries out the orders of his customer, the principle.  He meets an obligation of means determined by his principle, but does not choose his subcontractors. He is only liable for his own mistakes. From a technical point of view, this implies having administrative, legal, tax and banking knowledge, transport insurance as well as implementing industrial means for stocking, packaging, storing and grouping all or part of the stevedoring, and operations for the approach and final shipping of goods.

Liner agent:
The liner agent is a commercial agent who works in the maritime sector. He acts on behalf of his principle, the ship-owner and carries out all tasks entrusted to him. He is his permanent representative. He is in charge of negotiating and concluding contracts, managing finances, looking for freight, setting up a trade policy, has contact with the customers, and relations with authorities in charge of shipping problems and this in his designated area. The range of his power of representation is determined by the contract of mandate signed with the ship-owner.

Port stevedoring:
The stevedore activity is one which consists in carrying out physical operations with a view to loading and unloading ships as quickly as possible. Stevedoring companies carry out almost all of the physical operations performed in a port, with rented equipment or with their own equipment.
The handler, called a "stevedore" carries out all tie-down, shifting, delivery and loading operations including putting goods in a warehouse or taking them from an open area; he can also be in charge of stocking, taking delivery of and managing goods on the dock.

To realise these operations, superstructures (cranes/gantry cranes/shear legs) are often rented to the port authority. Machines (elevators, trailers, front end loaders and bulldozers) often belong to the stevedoring company.

The stevedore acts on behalf of the shipping companies, consignees of goods, forwarding agents or manufacturers.

Road chartering
The road chartering activity is one which consists in the carriage of goods by means of road transport. This function covers different types of operational realities including:

• Receiving requests from shippers to transport their goods,
• Searching for suitable means of transport depending on the customer's needs, transport constraints, characteristics of the goods, time allowed, in accordance with transport regulations,
• Establishing documents linked to the transport contract,
• Monitoring carriers invoices,(Responsibility of the forwarding agent)

Ships agent:
The ships agent is an employed representative. He acts on behalf of and for his principle, for the needs of the ship and what it ships.
He carries out all operations the ship-owner would carry out himself if he was on site or those which the captain could undertake. Ships agency sales are commercial acts performed on behalf of the ship-owner which consist in particular in:

• On departure, taking delivery of goods and issuing bills of lading, on arrival, delivering the goods to the consignee,
• Catering for the normal needs of the ship and the shipment, preparing the port of call, attending to the ship during the stopover, managing all consequential problems at the port of call,
• Ensuring the management of the goods' multimodal transport aids or units (containers, road trailers, slave trailers…) on behalf of his ship-owner
• Receiving all writs or extrajudicial documents intended for the ship-owner that the captain is authorised to receive,
  Performing any other task entrusted by the ship-owner

Storage (Provision of services):
The storage activity is one which consists in carrying out all physical storage operations and supervising goods in a warehouse. This trade covers different types of operational realities including:

• Taking delivery of goods,
• Unloading goods and putting them away in storage areas or on racks depending on their specificity (dangerous goods for example),
• Packaging on pallets or in smaller bags, tracking, sorting, wrapping,
• Computer-managed stock,
• Removing goods