Page 122 - Rukert - 100th Anniversary

ABOVE: Andy Nixon, pictured on the cover of an Anne Arundel Community College publication, helped the college develop a transportation, logistics and cargo security program.
10 years, Andy was the co-chair of the BPA’s Education and Outreach Committee, whose mission is to encourage and support educational partnerships between port businesses and
area residents. In this role, Andy worked with several area high schools and community colleges to promote port-related job opportunities that most people are not aware of. Andy also helped develop a trans- portation, logistics and cargo security program
at Anne Arundel Community College.
In 2015, the former Free State Steel building
located on three acres at 1601 South Haven Street was put up for sale. Rukert Terminals eagerly purchased the nearly contiguous parcel just north of Holabird Avenue. Unfortunately, because the building was occupied by tenants, it would be several years before the company could make use of the storage space.
After discharging a record 21 vessels in January 2015, Rukert Terminals’ 130-acre terminal in Canton was bursting at the seams with a plethora of commodities. The company needed additional warehouse and outside storage space for cargo. After decades of successful expansion from the Pier 5 and Lazaretto waterfronts along South Clinton Street, the company had outgrown its footprint and run out of available surrounding property to acquire.
While other terminal and warehouse companies routinely rent or lease space, Rukert
Terminals has always preferred to operate on its own property. With no empty warehouse space in the terminal, the company had little choice but to rent space off-site to accommodate overflowing cargo like plywood. In 2015, Rukert Terminals signed a two-year lease for 163,000 square feet of warehouse space at 2300 Broening Highway in the nearby Point Breeze industrial and business complex.
Renting additional warehouse space eased
the storage problem temporarily, but to stay ahead
of ever-increasing cargo volumes and secure new business, Rukert Terminals needed a long-term strategy. Management worked with outside consultant Paul McMillan, who encouraged them to take an unfamiliar approach. Rather than wait for land near South Clinton Street to come up for sale, he suggested that the company begin a search for properties beyond Canton. In November of 2015, the company purchased a warehouse facility at 2121 Grays Road in Dundalk, approximately eight miles east of Rukert’s main office. The 206,000-square- foot building on 11 acres had operated since its inception in 1990 as a steel coil warehouse. In addition to its impressive size, the steel building is designed like many Rukert warehouses in Canton, making it a good fit for operations.
After completing improvements, the “Grays Road” facility, as it came to be known, was put
into service. On May 9, 2016, 5,000 metric tons
of lumber were discharged off the M/V Star Isford
at Lazaretto and trucked to Grays Road for a new customer. More new accounts followed, and within months, the large warehouse was filled with lumber and steel from discharged vessels. In addition, each day, employees unload as many as 30 containers of other commodities, like bulk bags of magnesite and graphite, into the facility. Despite being miles away from the mothership in Canton, a crew of four to six
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