International freight is the movement of goods between countries. These goods can be anything from single parcels to entire ship-loads of oil, coal or other bulk goods.

International freight is a huge component of the global economy as goods are exported and imported to and from every country in the world. The history of international freight really goes back to the earliest days of sailboats, and even before that to the vikings in Europe and various other trading between Asian countries.

There is a wide range of players in the international freight industry, from shipowners and airlines to armies of merchant (i.e. civil) mariners to freight forwarders and land transport companies. The whole international freight market is managed using large amounts of paperwork (mostly electronic these days) which ensure that goods are carefully tracked and that international and local laws are adhered to.

These days technology plays a large role in international freight, with GPS, radio frequency and barcodes all used to quickly and, often, automatically track the movement of goods. Shipping containers can be tracked as they move all over the world using GPS, for instance.

When people talk about the ‘global economy’ they are really talking about international freight, because without such freight there would not be a global economy. The ability to buy goods online from overseas vendors is entirely facilitated by the existence of international freight companies. Similarly, and increasingly, the ability of countries like China to quickly grow their economies is enabled by the international freight industry’s ability to move large quantities of material like coal and iron ore across the seas.