Page 88 - Rukert - 100th Anniversary

ABOVE: A salt pile is being formed.
Long-time Account Coordinator Jana Caldwell shared a memory from the winter of 1996, one of Maryland’s snowiest. She recalled coming in early one weekday morning as the snow was falling, anticipating a busy day taking orders for salt delivery by phone. Much to her surprise, she found Vice Presidents Rick Wolfe and John Coulter in her workspace, already answering phones, and taking orders for two big customers. What’s more, Vice President Bill Bienert was working the switchboard! This is emblematic of the teamwork and customer service that goes on at Rukert.
Burgeoning business in Canton brought a promotion and a key hire. First, in March of 1993, after eight years of diligent service, John Coulter
was promoted to Vice President of Rukert Terminals Corporation. As planned, John had worked closely with Norm and Bud, absorbing their teaching and the Rukert philosophy. Next, after Norm met Cargill Salt’s engineer, a Naval Academy graduate, he decided that Rukert Terminals needed an engineer of its own. As a favor, Cargill’s engineer posted Norm’s ad for a hands-on Field Engineer/Project Manager on the Naval Academy electronic job board. Steve
Landess, who had a B.S. in Ocean Engineering and experience in the Navy Civil Engineering Corps, was hired in late 1994. He recalls arriving at the terminal his first day in a jacket and tie but leaving covered in concrete, dust and mud. Once Steve started doing construction and renovation projects, company management began getting a lot more compliments about the terminal. Steve would go on to earn a master’s degree in Civil Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1999.
Along with a thriving bulk business, the early 1990s also brought a resurgence of general cargo work. These commodities included aluminum, nickel, zinc and lead. Rukert Terminals also handled steel products like wire rod and rebar as well as bulk sacks of chemicals, ores and metals. General cargo was handled with ship’s gear, or the company’s multipurpose crawler cranes. By the mid-1990s, the general cargo business was booming. Roll-on/Roll-off (Ro-Ro) ships carrying aluminum from Russia in various forms were a regular sight
at Lazaretto. In fact, aluminum accounted for 55 percent of all general cargo business in 1995.
General cargo work requires more employees and more equipment than handling bulk commod- ities. When several commodities with multiple lot numbers come off a ship, the various products have to be sorted and stored carefully to avoid intermin- gling. In addition, once discharged, unitized cargo like aluminum ingots often requires restacking and rebanding by hand. This goes on in triple-digit heat or with the cargo covered in snow. Norm and Bud were initially reluctant to pursue new general cargo business. They credit Rick Wolfe for pushing them to expand their horizons and try new commodities and handling techniques. The expansion into general cargo boosted business and made operations more dynamic. A diverse array of ships and cargo
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