The stories behind the Saltchuk family of companies
Merrilee Gorman is ‘deeply concerned with doing the right things the right way.’ Vessel Operations Manager Merrilee Gorman began her career at Tropical Shipping 38 years ago as a File Clerk in Accounting. “When I first started at Tropical, it
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Tropical Shipping Shipside Operations Supervisor Robert Ackley is a 2021-2022 Saltchuk Safety Award nominee after a series of pinch-point finger and hand injuries led to co-creating a tool that allows the company’s stevedores to hold lifting cables away from cargo,
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Tamara Lowe: ‘My roles involve aligning efforts toward promoting an awareness among young women of the career opportunities available within the Maritime sector with the hope of addressing the under-representation of women in the industry.’ Tamara Lowe grew up on
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Mary Kiernan passed away May 10; she recently celebrated 40 years with Tropical Shipping. Tropical Shipping Vessel Analyst Mary Kiernan, dubbed “the Mother of Tropical,” celebrated 40 years with the company on March 18, 2021. She passed away last week
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Julissa Moreta calls ‘time out’ on unsafe work situations in her native Dominican Republic Saltchuk Safety Award finalist Julissa Moreta was born and raised in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Her father, a regional sales manager, and her mother,
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Van Kent: ‘We’re always the first to arrive after a storm, and we not only help our employees but also provide help to entire communities. You don’t see that from a lot of other companies.’ Van Kent’s mother worked two
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Don Croal: ‘After 45 years, it’s still an adventure, not just a job.’ By Hilary Reeves Across the street from Dornsford (Don) Croal’s childhood home in Guyana lived a ship captain and merchant mariner who would one day change his
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Career mariner Art Dahlin was named General Manager of Foss’s Columbia Snake River region – and the Fleet Monitoring Center – in 2018. By Hilary Reeves Foss Martime’s Fleet Monitoring Center (FMC) debuted to much fanfare on June 1, 2016
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Craig Coughlin’s observation on container safety garnered him a 2018 Safety Award nomination. By Hilary Reeves Craig Coughlin grew up working on cars in Springfield Virginia, attended a vocational high school and later trained as a diesel mechanic at a
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Patti Tripp: ‘I want to continue to learn new things that will help me to keep advancing my career.’ By Hilary Reeves If there was anything constant about the early years of Patti Tripp’s career, it’s that she was constantly
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Edilio Brito will receive the President’s Award for Innovation in Safety for his commitment to improving forklift visibility. By Hilary Reeves Tropical Shipping Lead Mechanic and 2018 Saltchuk Safety Award winner Edilio Brito grew up in Miami, a talented guitarist
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“I’ve had quite the journey since my return to Tropical,” he said. “In my current role, I work with our NVOCC teams at Caribtrans, Deluxe, and VI Cargo to seek opportunities to grow their business and develop the strategy for the future. The Global Logistics side is where we partner with industry leaders to offer logistics services from around the world to our Caribbean customers, regardless of whether it’s less than container-load or full container-loads. In addition, I work to support our LCL Warehouses for Tropical in West Palm Beach and Miami where we handle small-package receiving and consolidation services.”
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Keyla van Heyningen had been Tropical’s St. Maarten Island Manager for only a day when Category 5 Hurricane Irma crippled the island. By Hilary Reeves In 2015, Keyla van Heyningen was managing a produce company that imported goods from the
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