History
Being owner operated and staffed with personnel who have accumulated over 80 years experience in the complexities of international transport, our common goal is to bring the world to the Hunter Region.
Hunter Cargo & Customs had its beginning in its present form on 1st July 2005. However the founding company which is a partner in Hunter Cargo & Customs, Hunter Customs Agency Pty Ltd commenced operations in Newcastle as a Customs Agency on 1st November 1986. Approximately 12 years later Hunter Customs Agency formed an affiliation with Platt Trading to expand its services to embrace international freight forwarding and this arrangement was formalised in 2005 under the current banner of Hunter Cargo & Customs.
The founding partner in Hunter Customs Agency is Mike O’Connor who is a Licensed Customs Broker and continues in that capacity today.
David Platt formally joined Mike as a partner in 2005, bringing considerable International Freight handling skills to the business, which has seen a growth of 50% in staff numbers since its inception.
Today Hunter Cargo & Customs employs 9 specialist staff in addition to the business owners to provide the complete range of Customs Clearance & Freight Forwarding services both to and from all major destinations.
Hunter Cargo & Customs has a strong focus on providing customs brokerage services and to that end employs a Customs Manager, 3 Licensed Brokers and a Trainee Broker. Together the staff boast over 60 years of operational broking experience within the industry.
David Platt leads our freight specialist team and is responsible for the establishment of a significant worldwide network of agents in all the major trading centres of the world. Hunter Cargo & Customs is the Australian representative for the World Freight Network (WFN) which has a membership of over 80 countries with in most cases at least 1 appointed representative per country. This network is our most important freight partnership, providing its members with a strong and credible presence worldwide with a cohesive leadership from its English founders. Membership in this network does not prohibit Hunter Cargo & Customs from relationships with other freight forwarders in areas and logistic exercises of benefit to Hunter Cargo & Customs and its client base.
A recent example of this ability to provide an innovative logistical solution was our appointment to arrange customs clearance and the Australian land transport combined with re-exportation of a number of water craft sent to Australia by the forwarder on behalf of the Chinese Olympic Team for a Melbourne sailing regatta. This particular freight forwarder is also the nominated forwarder for the Beijing Olympics and provides significant logistics opportunities for Hunter Cargo & Customs and our Clients in developing ongoing trade between our 2 countries.
Hunter Cargo & Customs continues to build strong relationships with China by frequent face-to-face contact with our Chinese agents in the major locations and onsite visits to suppliers when required.
From humble beginnings over 20 years ago Hunter Cargo & Customs is committed to the ongoing growth of its business, to secure the employment benefits of present staff and work to being a positive force in the Hunter region.
