Young freight forwarders – step forward!

There is no better way of teaching young freight forwarders the ropes than by encouraging and supporting their entry into the South African Association of Freight Forwarders’ (Saaff) Young Freight Forwarder of the Year award. With entries having just opened for this prestigious award, young people under the age of 30 who have been working full-time in the forwarding industry for at least four years and whose employers are members of Saaff, are being called on to enter. According to Margy Pedder of Saaff, the aim of the award, which is a precursor to the Fiata “Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year Award”, is to encourage skills development within the South African forwarding and clearing industry. With Saaff providing a topic, the candidates write a dissertation of between 2500 and 4000 words. The South African winner goes on to take part in the Fiata Young International Freight Forwarder Award, with the possibility of travelling overseas to attend the annual Fiata conference as a regional quarter finalist. This year’s winner, Natasha Persad, describes the competition as a remarkable experience. “The dissertation was one of the most significant academic challenges, but it broadened my knowledge on so many aspects of freight forwarding.”