The United Forwarders Network (UFN) is a group of freight forwarders and cargo agents around the globe. We share a mutual goal to expand our business globally. UFN members collaborate to share best practices and find solutions to industry-wide challenges. Working together and using our collective strengths enable us to compete against multinational competitors.
To become a UFN member, your company must be well-managed, financially stable, with a potentially significant volume of business, have a good credit history and a well-established reputation and preferably have 2 been in operation for minimum of 2 years.
The application process is in two stages:
- Stage 1: You need to complete the online Membership Application form or download and email us one. The application evaluation takes 2-5 days. Thereafter, we will inform you if your registration has been accepted. The process is faster if your references reply to our emails immediately as per your request to them.
- Stage 2: You will be invoiced, Upon receipt of the funds we will inform you of your acceptance and website credentials.
The annual membership fee costs a total of $1050 – $750 is the membership fee while $250 is the insurance fee for the Receivables Payment Protection Plan (mandatory) and $50 for bank charges.
Yes, absolutely! But if the location is vacant. The incentive, we even provide a discount for the registration of multiple offices.
Yes, we have a referral program & a shipment reimbursement incentive for our members.
- Referral Program: For every recommended agent who becomes a member, the referring agent earns a $50 discount on their annual membership fee for up to $150.
- Shipment Incentive Program: Receive $25 incentive per shipment among members for up to $100, annually (this incentive is currently on hold).
- Writers Discount: write articles for our newsletter & blog to receive $25 incentive per approved article for up to $150 discount on your annual membership.
- Videos: YouTube interview &/or Testimonial promoted on our Social Media for $25 discount on your membership fees.
- Multiple Offices: Register multiple office/locations of your company for discounted rates.
Total allowable discounts in a year is up to $250 on your annual membership.
The more information you provide, the better it is for all our members to evaluate your trustworthiness. For your member profile we request you to provide:
- Company contact information
- Company logo
- At least two (2) personal contacts
- At least two (2) photos (staff and offices)
- Description of services
- Territories where you handle shipments
- Local charges
- Bank information
- Office Hours
- Names of associations that you are a member of
- Your logistics license
- Company Website & Social Media Information
- Company literature (brochure, PowerPoint, leaflet, etc.)
We try to limit membership to 2 per country but because countries are different, we offer exclusivity per city or market. For example, India is a country with many cities/markets that is why the network needs several agents there. However, Kuwait is smaller, so one agent may be enough to handle UFN requirements. They will most likely be capable to manage all business within the network from/to the country. Granting exclusivity based on city/market and not per country allows the introduction of more business exchange among members.
Company policy prohibits the disclosure of any member information to non-members. Nonetheless, you are welcome to have a look at city/country page to view our membership coverage.
We encourage members who find a reliable agent(s) to refer to UFN, as it may earn a substantial discount on their membership fee under the Referral Program.
Note: UFN accepts no liability for any financial loss or other losses that may incur as the result of working with non-UFN members.
Currently, UFN does not compile this statistical data that specifies the number of shipments per city/country. Neither does UFN guarantee any business to any city/country. UFN can only facilitate & market your company for leads.
We cannot guarantee shipments. We assume that you will receive enough shipments as long as you provide an excellent service and competitive rates for your city/country. We will facilitate and market your company to our members to receive shipments from them. This should translate into increased business.
It is not necessarily that you receive business from that same member, but overall, your cooperation will be rewarded by the business you receive from your fellow members.
Absolutely not! No network in existence, including UFN, can guarantee its members business because every city/country is different. Nevertheless, UFN provides you with a database of trustworthy and reliable partners as well as a secure environment that benefits your business. The rest depends on the pro-activeness and service of each member as well as the rates offered. Our members are committed to offering a substantial amount of shipments to network members. This will be monitored frequently through various methods such as questionnaires. If a member is seen to be taking business but never offering business, that member will be warned. If they continue, they will be expelled from the network. They will immediately be replaced by a waiting list agent.
No, absolutely not. Please continue working with your current agents as well. We at UFN totally understand how difficult it can be to find trustworthy and reliable agents. We would never want to jeopardize your existing relationships. That is why our members are never required to use the network for 100% of their shipments. Furthermore, members are urged to recommend their favorite agents as candidates for membership, and therefore, we have the referral program setup. For every referred agent who becomes a member, the referring agent earns a $50 discount on their annual membership fee for up to $150.
RPP (Payment Protection) is mandatory for all our members. RPP offers for an additional security for your payments. The RPP funds will be released to chase the debt on any bad payments and debtors among the UFN network. Premium members make an annual mandatory contribution of $250 for a coverage up to $20,000.
If a member is seen to be receiving shipments but never offering, they will be warned and asked to change their working practices. Should they fail to cooperate, they will be expelled and immediately replaced by awaiting waiting list agent.
If the lack of compatibility is due to quality in the services provided, you should report it to UFN administration for investigation and appropriate action. Otherwise, you may use another UFN member in the same country or find an agent on your own accord.
The reasons for expulsion can be one or multiple such as:
- Engaging in questionable or illegal business practices
- Providing poor quality of service to members and/or clients
- Neglecting responsibilities pertaining to other member and/or clients
- The failure to cooperate with or request cooperation from members
- A recurrent of late payments on invoices issued by members
- Failure to pay invoices issued by members
- Failure to attend two (2) consecutive annual conferences/events
- Failure to actively contribute to sales/marketing promotion
- To act in bad faith in a dispute with another member
- Continuous violations of any other rules, regulations or terms
Thirty (30) days is the payment period between members, excluding any VAT and taxes that will be paid immediately without credit terms. Or as agreed by the members on their own accord.
The member that issues the invoice should receive the net amount of the invoice. Henceforth, the party that orders the bank transfer ought to cover the necessary expenses to make the payment on the invoice such as the bank charges, exchange rates, or other costs & fees. The member party receiving the payment will receive the total amount with no deductions for costs etc.
UFN advises that payments between members to be made in the currency requested on the invoice. Members can use other currencies only when they have agreed in advance.
Agents should not have to spend their time collecting debts, UFN has a policy of zero-tolerance for late payments. The unpaid agent should contact UFN administration immediately and the member will be contacted and given 5 business days’ notice to complete the payment. If payment is not made, the member will be expelled from UFN.
UFN members understand that it is in their interest to treat customers well, as they may earn business from them in the future. In the instance of any unprofessional behavior by other members, our members agree to report such incidences to the UFN administration.
We require that at least one (1) senior member of staff from each company to attend the annual meeting/conference. Any company that fails to send any representation for two (2) consecutive annual meetings/conference will be expelled from the network.
The meeting/conference provides you an opportunity to develop a robust global network of agents. To create a reliable network of agents may require a considerable expense from you in terms of both time and money while traveling the globe to meet and build relationships with partners. Therefore, UFN members collaborate at one location yearly. This saves you from office absences and travel expenses.
Without a doubt, this is the primary benefit that you can take advantage of as a UFN member. It is of the most importance that all members attend the annual meeting/conference. It is your opportunity to promote & market your business on an international platform, do deals, and build lasting relationships. The meetings/conferences are also the best venue for you to seek out industry best practices and discuss solutions to industry-wide challenges.
The annual meeting/conference typically lasts 2 to 3 days long. We begin with a cocktail party on the first evening and then what follows are any scheduled presentations or one-to-one meetings. In addition, we take a tour of the local area and have a gala dinner. This is an additional event where you can continue to network & collaborate.
We will make the logo available to you on our Branding Manual, which can be downloaded from the members’ section on our website.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.