The Young Irish Freight Forwarder of the Year Award is intended to showcase the creative work of young Irish freight forwarders, and to select a candidate to represent Ireland in the 2027 FIATA Young Logistics Professional competition.
The Young Irish Freight Forwarder of the Year is open to persons who are under the age of 35 (as of 2027) and an employee of an IIFA member firm.
Employers must nominate colleagues to IIFA secretariat by close of business on Friday, 30 October 2026. Nominations should be sent to info@iifa.ie, with the subject line Young Irish Freight Forwarder Nomination - [Candidates Name + Company].
Nominated candidates are required to submit a 3-5 minute video, outlining their career to date. The purpose of the video is to allow candidates to best present themselves to the steering committee for the competition. Videos do not need to be recorded or edited to a professional standard.
Videos should be submitted by close of business on Sunday, 08 November 2026. A link to upload videos will be sent to all candidates in advance.
Finalists, who will advance to Round 2, will be announced by the close of November 2026.
Round 2 consists of two elements: a written outline of their prospective thesis for the FIATA Young Logistics Professional competition, and an in-person presentation to the Steering Group and their fellow finalists.
The outline of the prospective thesis should be 500-700 words. The thesis should address an Import movement and an Export movement. See the FIATA YLP information page supporting documents for more information. The draft outline should be submitted to IIFA secretariat by close of business on Wednesday, 13 January 2027.
The Presentation Evening for Round 2 will take place on Wednesday, 27 January 2027 in Dublin. Candidates will be advised on the format and duration of presentations closer to the date.
The 2027 winner of the Young Irish Freight Forwarder of the Year will be announced on the night of the Presentation Evening.
The Irish winner will be officially nominated to FIATA in early February 2027, when nominations open. The successful candidate will have three months to draft and submit their thesis to FIATA, to be considered within the European Regional competition.
The Irish winner will be awarded a personal trophy and presented with the perpetual trophy at the Association's AGM in May 2027.
This is an initiative to promote and recognise the work of young professionals in the industry. Cargo movements in themselves are achievements of planning and successful delivery of coordinated carrier movements. There are many exciting success stories within the industry of delivering creative solutions for Clients and this competition aims to provide a platform for the work of young Irish Freight Forwarders to be recognised.
This Irish competition will also act as the selection process for Ireland's Candidate for the annual FIATA global Young Logistics Professional Award (YLP). The individual chosen to be selected as the Irish winner for 2027 will then be nominated forward by IIFA to represent Ireland with the 2027 FIATA YLP.
While IIFA has sent Candidates forward for the FIATA YLP in the past, this initiative introduces a new selection process. IIFA will host a national competition among Irish Forwarders. There will be a National Young Irish Freight Forwarder of the Year each year (from within the membership body) and that Winner will then go forward to represent Ireland globally through the FIATA Young Logistics Professional.
In addition to being selected to represent Ireland through the FIATA YLP, the annual Irish Winner will receive a prize of a €500 voucher, an individual trophy and their name on a perpetual trophy which will be awarded to subsequent annual National Young Irish Freight Forwarder of the Year winners.
A Young Logistics Professional under 35 years of age undertakes to write a thesis focusing on two shipments, one Export and one Import, from their Country, focusing on the detail and complexity of handling the shipment. 4x Region Winners are selected by FIATA and these 4 then travel to the annual FIATA World Congress to complete in the finals where an overall winner will be chosen. The project can be a real or research shipment. IIFA can nominate one person to represent Ireland in the competition each year.
For 2027, nominated Irish Representatives will undergo a short, internal competition in order to be short listed. The internal competition will comprise a video introduction by the participant, a written piece of 500 – 700 words outlining their career to date and their prospective topic for the FIATA YLP competition, and a presentation to the selection committee from within IIFA’s Education Committee. The committee will then select, from that shortlist, who will be awarded Young Irish Freight Forwarder of the Year and will then support that individual with their preparations to represent Ireland with the 2027 FIATA YLP.
Ireland is fortunate to have had Representatives from Members step forward in the past. The most recent individuals from Member firms were Vikram Nair of RHENUS Air & Ocean, David Macken of Hawthorn Logistics Ltd, Dayna Thackrah of RHENUS Air & Ocean, and Elizabeth Taveres of SEKO Logistics Ireland Ltd.
Since 1999, FIATA have an annual competition, the Young Logistics Professional Award (formerly Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year Award). Since 2024, IIFA has run the Young Irish Freight Forwarder of the Year Award, to help with the nomination process for a suitable candidate into the YLP. Click the button to learn more about Ireland's representatives at FIATA's YLP, along with the company they represented.
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