The most important factor in the shipperfreight forwarder relationship is one of the worst for forwarder performance, according to a survey by Transport Intelligence.

Shippers responding to the survey rate "proactive notification of problems" as the most important aspect of customer service. When asked how forwarders perform on this and other factors, shippers say proactive notification is the second worst area.

The survey, which included subscribers to Logistics Today's enewsletters, covers over 100 major manufacturers and retailers in the U.S. and Europe.

Reliability, which tied with proactive notification on the scale of importance, exhibits a slightly smaller gap between expectation and performance. Shippers rank forwarders just barely above "acceptable" on reliability.

"It is worrying that the two most important attributes of customer service have been rated by shippers amongst the lowest in terms of freight forwarder performance," says John Manners-Bell, CEO of Transport Intelligence. "The gap shows there is a clear opportunity for the leading freight forwarders to win competitive advantage by addressing these issues."