Name:  Bill Hay International

        Address: 9295 Siempre Viva Rd       

City: San Diego, CA  

CEO:  Bill Hay

Product: Third Party Logistics

Phone: 800-661-9966   Year Founded: 1978

    San Diego-based Bill Hay International is a third party logistics company that provides single source transportation service in and out of Mexico.

    Clients range from Fortune 500 companies to emerging businesses and even rock ‘n’ roll legends The Rolling Stones. A partial list of the commodities it has moved in or out of Mexico includes a 300,000 injection molding machine, automobile parts, hatching eggs, consumer electronics, textiles, ice cream, a submarine and a racing catamaran. In 1995 and 1998 it handled the transportation for the Rolling Stones concert tour to and from Mexico City.

    Bill Hay International is owned by Bill Hay, a retired marine who began his transportation career at the age of 15 as a gandy dancer for the Union Pacific Railroad. After a two-decade career in the Marines, Hay entered the business world and worked as the corporate traffic manager for a retail hardware chain The Handyman.

    In 1979, Hay founded a transportation consulting firm known as San Diego Traffic Services. In 1983, the company applied for and obtained its ICC Broker of Property license. In 1992 it changed its name to Bill Hay International.

    From the beginning, Hay realized that there was a tremendous business opportunity moving freight into and out of Mexico (a decade before The North American Free Market Agreement). Shipping freight into or from Mexico is not seamless and delays in product delivery because of a lack of logistics knowledge can be expensive. Picking the right international transportation freight forwarding broker is critical. This is why he set out to develop this niche in the market as the main focus of the business.

    Today, Bill Hay International calls itself the Mexican Connection for all different kinds of companies. Manufacturers, distributors, freight forwarders, transportation brokers, and trucking companies call on it for logistics solutions to and from Mexico.

    More than 10 years before NAFTA, Hay realized the opportunity in Mexico. Today, he calls on more than 20 years of experience and relationships developed in Mexico to keep clients’ costs down and satisfaction levels up.

    “I don’t lie and I don’t cheat,” he says. “My reputation is worth more to me than the $100 I could make moving freight.”

    Plant moves, distribution programs, warehousing and freight consolidation are among the other services the company provides.

    “This is my niche,” he says. “There are probably 10,000 brokers who can handle the United States. We found our niche dealing exclusively with Mexico.”

    Bill Hay International’s service includes all the major border crossings between the United States and Mexico and every city in Mexico.

    “There is not a single city in Mexico that we can’t get to,” he says.

Maquila benefits

    Companies establishing a maquiladora along the border or transferring equipment to a Mexican manufacturer in the interior have special logistics demands and requirements. Most times, they need multiple equipment and different types of trailers. Bill Hay International can provide vans, flat beds, step decks, double drops, and specialized equipment. Some of our recent project moves that involved multiple shipments include the following:

    •Printing press and plant transfer to Mexico City.

    •Paper processing machinery to Orizaba, Veracruz.

    •Machinery for the Tecate Brewery in Tecate, B.C.

    •Mining equipment to Querétaro, Querétaro.

    •Tanks with over sized dimensions from Monterrey, N.L. to the United States.

    •Over dimensional loads of machinery for a new manufacturing facility in Reynosa, Tamps.

    •Over-size and overweight shipments to an electric power plant in San Carlos, Baja California Sur.

    •Mining equipment to Cananea, Son.

    •Four 354,000 pound injection molding machines to Tijuana, B.C.

    •Multiple shipments of steel used in the filming of the “Titanic” in Baja California.

Other services

    Many of its customers are actually U.S. and Canadian carriers. Bill Hay International provides carriers drayage for their equipment into and out of Mexico at all the major gateways to border or interior destinations. Every carrier that has contemplated letting its equipment cross the border has heard the horror stories: lost equipment, new tires swapped with old, pieces broken or missing. This can happen if you do not know who you are working with. When you team with Bill Hay International, you can have peace of mind that your equipment is insured. With its trailer insurance program, your equipment is protected while in Mexico.

    Bill Hay International has also been serving exhibitors at trade shows for more than five years. BHI helps take the guess work out of shipping your booth and exhibit materials - regardless of size, shape or weight. It can also help with the customs and freight forwarding on trade show shipments with its broker / associates at the border or airports. If the show producers have an authorized or an official freight forwarder, it can also coordinate with them.

Tips

    Here are proven tips for assuring your materials are delivered on time at the right place and price:

    Documentation. Don’t underestimate the importance of the commercial invoices. You most likely will need two (one for the consumables and giveaways and another for the booth and anything returning back to the United States).

    Transit time. Make sure to allow at least two weeks lead time from the gateway to the venue.

    Get Personal. Know who the freight forwarding agent is. Be sure to comply with all his requests.

    Budget properly. Normally, all customs duties, freight forwarder, custom broker fees, and transportation charges are due and payable before the materials enter Mexico.

    Cargo Insurance. Protect your shipment from loss or damage. Unless requested, Mexican transportation companies do not carry insurance.

    Packaging. No international packaging or crating is necessary - save your money. Pack your freight as you would a domestic move, but make sure all model and serial numbers are visible or can easily be reached.

    Pre-planning. If you’re going to invest in trade show ventures in Mexico, you need a partner who will stand by you 100 percent.