ROUND TABLE
PERMITTING SERVICES
Terry White
talks to a panel of permitting services
providers about the increasing complexities of
acquiring permits and why working with the experts
is important.
”
‘‘
38
ACT
MARCH 2014
service can help a carrier eliminate
the headaches of tracking numerous
individual permits, making sure that all
multi-jurisdictional permits are in proper
sequence and providing quick solutions
when challenges present themselves
to carriers. The permitting service
also provides all the necessary details,
carefully organized, to simplify the
carriers’ task of billing their customers
for permits and pilot car services.
This month,
American Cranes &
Transport
set up a roundtable of
executives from four of the best-known
of these companies, all of which are
members of SC&RA. Our panel includes
Louis Juneau, president of Nova
Permits & Pilot Cars based in Quebec
City, Quebec, Canada; Wesley Mollno,
president of WCS Permits & Right of
Way, Inc. based in San Dimas, CA; Mary
Simpson, president of Permit America
based in Frankfort, KY; and Bob Terneus,
vice president of National Accounts,
Comdata, Inc. based in Brentwood, TN.
ONCE A CARRIER HAS MADE THE DECISION
TO GO TO AN OUTSIDE SOURCE FOR PERMITS,
WHY SHOULD THEY CHOOSE YOUR COMPANY?
Juneau:
Nova Permits and Pilot Cars has
been in business over 20 years, and we’ve
grown to around 20 employees. When
you’re able to stay in business that long in
such a competitive industry, that’s quite
an accomplishment. We’ve evolved by
gathering a vast amount of information,
building strong relationships throughout
the states and provinces and, well,
learning from our mistakes. To my
knowledge, we’re the only ones that
T
he latest edition of
American
Crane & Transport’s Sourcebook
includes 19 companies that offer
permitting services for the specialized
transportation industry. The best of these
companies flourish by helping carriers
avoid a considerable loss of time, money
and, ultimately, sanity.
Permit companies point out that hiring
on-staff permit experts is becoming
increasingly expensive due to the growing
burdens of salary, benefits, ancillary
administrative costs and healthcare.
Moreover, carriers are finding it more
and more difficult to find suitable
personnel, bring them up to their level of
management’s expectations and convince
them not to jump to another carrier after
gaining valuable training and experience.
Keeping track of constant changes
in local, state and federal regulations,
particularly those involving over-
dimensional/overweight (OD/OW) loads
can seem impossible for most carriers.
But, on a daily basis, permitting services
stake their reputation on knowing the
latest regulations. Permitting services also
monitor construction along routes and
other developments that can affect the
transport.
In a multi-jurisdictional situation,
permitting services have an edge because
they have nurtured relationships with
permitting officials, which can expedite
permits during critical, time-sensitive
operations. By knowing the ins and outs
of the industry, permitting services can
help carriers stay in compliance and
avoid heavy fines.
Placing a single order with a permitting
Carriers that base
their decisions strictly on
the fee may not realize
they may actually be going
through multiple services,
which can cause delays.
States get a lot of blame
for slow turnaround,
but sometimes it’s the
permitting service rather
than the state that is at
fault.
LOUIS JUNEAU
Nova Permits & Pilot Cars,
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
The world of
permitting
