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When a brand sells in a new state, it rarely ships from the factory to every distributor. It sends stock in bulk to a depot in that region, and the depot serves distributors from there. In India that depot is often run by a carrying and forwarding agent, called a C&F agent or CFA.
This guide explains what a C&F agent does, how stock flows from plant to depot to distributor, and what to settle before you appoint one.
What a C&F agent does
A C&F agent is a service provider, not a buyer. It receives your stock into its depot, stores it, and dispatches it to your distributors against your orders. It is paid a fee, often a percentage or a rate per case, agreed in the contract.
The stock always belongs to you. The C&F agent holds it on your behalf. Where agreed, it may also raise invoices to distributors in your name.
A distributor is different. A distributor buys the stock from you and resells it to retailers. It owns the goods and carries the sales risk.
How plant, depot and distributor connect
The chain has three legs.
- Primary transport. Full trucks carry stock from your factory to the C&F depot. This is the bulk leg, planned against the depot’s stock levels.
- Depot. The C&F agent unloads, checks and stores the stock, and keeps a stock record for you.
- Secondary dispatch. The depot picks orders and sends them to distributors in its region, usually in smaller vehicles.
Each leg hands over to the next. If primary trucks arrive late, the depot runs short. If depot records drift from transport records, nobody can say where a case went. The links matter as much as the legs.
What to plan before you appoint a C&F agent
- Region and depot location. Which states and distributors the depot will serve, and how far it sits from them.
- SKUs and volumes. What you will stock, in what quantity, and how often distributors order.
- Licences. The depot must hold the licences your goods need. Food businesses need FSSAI licensing or registration. Drugs need a licence under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules.
- Tax paperwork. Stock transfers to a depot generally move under GST documents and, above the value threshold, an e-way bill.
- Service levels. Order cut-off times, dispatch times and how returns are handled.
- Reporting. Daily stock and dispatch reports, reconciled against what transport delivered.
Where Safe & Secure Logistics fits
Safe & Secure Logistics has run road transport since 1951. It handles 76,000+ truck hires a year through 110+ branches and offices, and delivers to 2,000+ destinations.
For C&F and distribution, our strength is the primary leg. We move your stock from factory to depot on full trucks, including reefer trucks for chilled goods.
The depot itself is partner-arranged. Our desk finds and sets up a depot that meets your licences and service needs in the region you choose. The depot partner holds the premises, staff, stock custody and depot licences. We reconcile stock and dispatch reports with transport, and you get one point of contact.
See the full scope on our C&F and distribution service page.
Get started
Planning a depot network or a new state? Send your regions, SKUs and volumes through our request for quote, or get a quick price for a single load on the quote page.
Figures for Safe & Secure Logistics are for FY2025-26 from our booking register. How each one is counted is on the Facts and sources page.