One of the biggest challenges of organizing any international event is the logistics of transporting the exhibit and all of its components from one destination to the next.

That’s where a company such as PIBL comes in.

PIBL has plenty of experience handling such complex projects since it opened in 1995. PIBL is a licensed U.S. customs brokerage firm providing international transportation services, project management, exhibition and event services to companies around the globe.

In celebration of NY400 Holland on the Hudson, the Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality brought a representation of a Dutch village, called New Amsterdam Village, to New York’s Bowling Green Park for a special weeklong exhibit. The week-long celebration marked the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s arrival on the Dutch ship ‘Half Moon’ to the shores of what is now New York City.

The exhibit included 12 traditional Dutch houses, a life-size windmill, and a demonstration greenhouse, along with smaller pieces that needed to be moved from the Netherlands to New York and back again.. 

To get the village’s buildings and supplies to lower Manhattan, the Netherlands called on PIBL to arrange customs clearance under diplomatic status, and arrange for transportation,  grounding and return of the containers to Holland. The coordination between the Dutch Embassy and PIBL executives took approximately four months.

A PIBL crew, including drivers and staff worked tirelessly through the night to ensure the delivery of the international exhibit. On September 3, the shipment of containers arrived at 11 p.m.; PIBL worked onsite for the next seven hours to ensure delivery went off without a hitch.

Still, there were plenty of obstacles to overcome. The crew worked through a steady rain to get the job done. Two mobile cranes were waiting at the Park to ground the containers, which were used as part of the exhibit. The delivery site was located above a Manhattan subway station, which required PIBL to work closely with city engineers to insure certain weight limits were not exceeded. “Too much weight could have caved in the subway,” says Phil Hobson, PIBL President.  

Several companies were involved in the logistics of the project, including New York City police and parks and recreation departments. “Everyone had to be on the same page,” says Hobson. “If we don’t do our job, they can’t do their job. It trickles down.”

On September 16, PIBL provided the same services for the safe, on-time return of the New Amsterdam Village to Holland. Containers were packed, lifted onto the chassis and moved out of the Manhattan. The entire project was completed on schedule. “We worked very closely with the Netherlands Embassy in Washington, D.C. to ensure all of the containers used to transport the exhibit were received, cleared by customs and returned to Holland on time,” says Hobson. 

Thanks to the behind-the-scenes work of companies such as PIBL, the NY400 Holland on the Hudson was deemed a success by event organizers.

PIBL has offices in Elizabeth, New Jersey and Las Vegas, Nevada. PIBL offers customized fairs and event services to show managers, event organizers and exhibitors. Its trade show specialists have more than 30 years of experience in guiding clients through the intricacies of preparing for, and participating in trade shows, on time and on budget.