Page 90 - Rukert - 100th Anniversary

“There has always been and always will be
the need for a quick, efficient interchange of international cargo. That area of interchange is where the water meets the land.” — Bud Nixon
ABOVE: Norm Rukert Jr. with loyal employees Gloria Weber (left) and Lisa Hubbard.
FACING PAGE:
Rukert Terminals' 75th anniversary was celebrated at the Baltimore City Life Museums.
drives out maritime businesses jeopardizes jobs
that are vital to the city and state. Moreover, unlike other business sectors that operate inland, maritime businesses are dependent on access to water deep enough to accommodate ever-larger cargo vessels. Baltimore Sun journalist James H. Bready wrote
in 1981 that “the waterside that made Baltimore important was and is essentially a place of work.” Company leaders would fight to keep it that way. Bud Nixon used his voice to advocate for the port with his own letter to the editor of the Sun. He noted that since the Port of Baltimore was established
in 1706, “there has always been and always will
be the need for a quick, efficient interchange of international cargo. That area of interchange is where
the water meets the land.” Bud often warned that once waterfront land and maritime jobs are gone, “you never get them back.”
Encroaching development in Canton made
the company’s next land acquisition a double victory. In 1995, Rukert Terminals purchased 17.5 acres of property at the intersection of South Clinton and Boston streets from the Exxon Corporation. This major acquisition gave the company room to expand operations, while also maintaining the corner as an industrial area. Rukert Terminals soon occupied an existing 44,000-square-foot warehouse on the site, naming it Building #22. Later, the company graded and paved a 60,000-square-foot waterfront pad for storage of steel coils and rebar. Next, with trucking revenue up 34 percent under the leadership of Scott Damasiewicz, Rukert Transportation Services moved its growing trucking operation to this new property.
As the Rukert Terminals workforce continued to grow, four esteemed employees celebrated
their retirement. Gloria Weber came to Rukert Terminals as a “temporary replacement” for the Drayage Department in 1961. She stayed with the company for the next 34 years, retiring in 1995. Over the decades, Gloria worked at Brown’s Wharf, where she mentored a young Norm Rukert. In 1979, Gloria moved to Canton to run the Pier 5 Shipping and Receiving Office where she would stay for the rest of her career. After working with Cap, Norman
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