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What You Need to Know About Brokerage?

Over the last few years, the heavy haul industry and customs brokerage have seen a huge boost. There is now more demand for heavy-haul drivers due to the surge in revenue driven by an oil boom, and this has also led to higher demand for custom brokerage. Despite Covid-19 slowing down growth in the first quarter of 2020, both industries have bounced back impressively. In fact, both industries were among the only ones to continue relatively unabated throughout the lockdown periods in many countries.  In this article, we’ll be covering the basics of what you need to know about the heavy haul industry and how it intersects with custom brokerage.

What Is Heavy-Haul

Heavy-haul, as the name suggests, is the hauling of very heavy loads. This refers to anything that is above conventional dimensions, including but not limited to heavy equipment, multiple containers, and wide loads. It could also refer to regular goods that are, by volume or number, unconventionally heavy. Heavy-haul goods are usually very heavy, and can only be moved from one place to another by a heavy-duty trailer.

Since these heavy goods usually require special handling, their transportation must be left to professionals in the heavy hauling industry. Many challenges come with transporting these very heavy goods from one place to another, even when they aren’t too far apart. What makes heavy-haul business even trickier is that these heavy loads often have to cross borders, and that adds to the complexity of the journey.

What Is A Heavy Load

Heavy loads are loads that are above the regulated limits on roads. While this number varies from state to state and country to country, it’s accepted that anything past 8.6 feet in width, taller than 13.6 feet in height, longer than 53 feet, or that exceeds 80,000 pounds of gross weight is a heavy load.

Despite the fantastical weight of these loads, you should know that competent heavy hauling firms can transport these loads from one point to another with no problems. It doesn’t matter if they are airplane parts or an actual crane— they can be moved. The only hiccup, of course, is what happens when these loads have to move across borders, which they often have to. That’s when custom brokerage comes into the picture.

What Is Custom Brokerage

Custom brokerage is the process of brokering passage for goods through borders. The process of custom brokerage can be very complicated, and it’s usually carried out by custom brokers or a custom brokerage firm.

Custom brokers are people tasked with the difficult job of brokering the delivery and shipment of goods through borders. They are specifically trained to deal with the complexities of heavy hauling, and they exist to help people mitigate the stress that comes with moving large goods across borders.

They are the ones who ensure that the goods being transported have proper documentation, and all taxes and levies to be paid are paid on time. They are also saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that not only do goods get from point A to point B, they also get there right on schedule.

Custom brokers are the intermediaries between importers and the government and help companies deal with legislation. To be a customs broker, one must be conversant with the relevant state or national laws and must be able to navigate the system rather expertly.

While many importers hire different custom brokers and different heavy hauling companies, we’ve found that it’s easier to entrust both responsibilities to one company. This would translate to lower costs and would make it easier to manage the transport process.

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