Association President Jeffrey Bader in his opening remarks stressed the need to work together as a port community. The record breaking attendance at today's event amplifies the spirit of cooperation between all aspects of our port community. He stated "that the Terminal Operators have committed to a one hour turn-time on single moves, and we have seen this commitment occur more times in the past year than ever before. Most terminals have completed their planned renovations, and more are expected to be completed in the near future. In fact, we expect the one-hour turn time to become the norm during the next year. We have seen Maher Terminals take the lead in instituting late gates, and we congratulate them for this step, now being followed by PNCT on a trial basis. A great move toward our goal in response to our requests. The Port Authority reports huge gains in the number of containers handled during the past year, and we support that growth. This year our membership has hit the high mark of 125 member firms ' a doubling since our reorganization. We have received many accolades, all of which have been highly favorable. We will continue our commitment to support the issues that impact our members."
The recipient of our most prestigious award, named in memory of Leamon McCoy, one of our founders, was NJ Assemblyman John S. Wisniewski, the chairman of the NJ Assembly Transportation Committee, for his personal contribution towards the betterment of our industry and his dedication to the passage of legislation affecting the "Roadability" of interchanged chassis equipment. This bill has been under discussion and review for several years, and his efforts to finalize its passage in response to the constant prodding by our Legislative Committee and other industry interests have enabled its passage into law.
The William F. Fallon Memorial Award, in honor of William Fallon, who we lost on September 11, 2001, is awarded to the most outstanding terminal in the port. The award was presented to the New York Container Terminal by Mrs. William Fallon.
The recipients of our awards were:
For the most outstanding Off-Pier terminal to NJIT/Croxton Terminal, N.S. Railroad, operated by H&M international Transportation, Inc.
For the best maintained equipment in the port to Maersk Equipment Service Company.
For the terminal which showed the most improvement during the past year to Port Newark Container Terminal.
For the individual who contributed most towards furthering the Port Community Concept during the past year to Rick Larrabee, Director of the Port Department, Port Authority of NY-NJ.
The Chairman's Award, was presented to Sharon McStein of the Port Authority for her outstanding service and continued support to our Association.
For the most consistent level of service throughout the year, to APM Terminals.
In addition, individual awards were presented to the following Customer Service Representatives for their outstanding service to our members throughout the year:
Mike Verney of Global Terminals, Shirley Hurt of APM Terminals,
Pat Brown of Maher Terminals, Del Bobish of PNCT Terminal,
Donna Grant of PNCT Terminal, Elaine Loconte of New York Container Terminal, Sonja Cuadra of N.J.I.T. Terminal,
Sandra Schwilch of APL Terminal, and Carlos Badillo of CSX Terminal.
