From moving helicopters, to buses, to entire infantry divisions, Matson and Matson Integrated Logistics (MIL) think “outside the box” when transporting oversized cargo.  Whether for government or commercial shippers, Matson and MIL have proven themselves extremely capable of moving virtually anything, anywhere.

 “As Hawaii and Guam’s most experienced conventional cargo carrier, there really is no limit to what we can transport,” states Frank Lindsay, Matson’s general manager, fleet operations.  “We have moved many different types of cargo that were too large to fit in a container, or have required a variety of modes of transportation to get from point A to point B.  For instance, we recently transported a landing craft from San Diego to Kauai, which required towing it from San Diego to Long Beach, carefully loading it into the cargo hold underneath one of our ships and then towing it to Kauai upon its arrival in Honolulu.  In the past, we have also moved construction materials, stage productions, observatory mirrors, buses and boats and heavy machinery.  When transporting conventional cargo, we work with customers to carefully coordinate the move according to a well-defined time schedule, whether it be for a one-time shipment or a large project move.”

MIL provides oversized cargo service either door to door within two mainland United States points, or door to port, where it is then put on a ship for transport outside the mainland U.S.  MIL often works with Matson for door to port moves to Hawaii and Guam, and just like Matson, has proven itself capable of moving anything, no matter how large, throughout the mainland United States. “Our connections with both trucking companies and railroads allow us to offer oversized cargo logistics management through a variety of highway and intermodal rail services,” states John Lemieux, MIL’s manager, highway services.  “We will also work with customers to tailor our transportation offerings to best meet their service and cost requirements.  In addition to the inland conventional cargo service we provide, through our relationship with Matson, we recently enhanced our conventional cargo service to the Neighbor Islands by adding three lowboy trailers to our equipment fleet in Honolulu.  With these trailers, we can now load cargo as high as 13 feet and put them on barges for transport to the Neighbor Islands.” 

When customers work with either Matson or MIL to transport conventional cargo, they will have just one point of contact who will handle all the logistics required in the move, and will keep them informed of the status of their cargo every step of the way. According to Lindsay, the years of experience Matson and MIL has in moving conventional cargo, and their ability to work together on moves is a strong case for why customers should use the companies for oversized cargo transportation.  “Although oversized cargo oftentimes requires us to get creative as to how we move it, we welcome customers to present us with the challenge.  Our many years of experience transporting conventional cargo, both over-the-road or by sea, makes us uniquely qualified to assist customers with whatever their transportation needs might be.”

For more information about Matson’s and MIL’s oversized cargo service, please visit Matson’s website at: http://www.matson.com/OversizedCargo/index.html.