Feb. 24, 2000

PORTLAND: Portland’s Terminal 6 (T6), operated by prominent West Coast stevedore and terminal operating company Marine Terminals Corp. (MTC), was recognized for its ISO 9002 registration achievement during a presentation ceremony held at the facility in February.

Mike Morgan, MTC terminal manager, welcomed the invited guests and explained the continuing process of improvements and commitment MTC’s ISO certification represents to its customers.

"The ISO process can be explained in these simple steps," Morgan said. "We say what we do, we do what we say, and we can prove it."

MTC President/CEO Douglas Tilden told the gathering that MTC embarked on the challenge to become an internationally recognized world-class service provider more than three years ago. At that time, MTC looked internally at their core competencies that give MTC its competitive strength.

"What makes MTC different is its people," Tilden said. "In addition, MTC made a commitment to invest in technology, early on, to keep all of its operations ahead of the curve."

Tilden explained that the third element of MTC’s focus is the process—how they do business on a day-to-day basis. MTC’s company-wide, ISO-structured program is the means of bringing the process of consistency and reliability to operations as well as documentation and customer services. MTC stressed its cooperative goal with the Port of Portland for long-term success of the facility.

Bob Hrdlicka, Port of Portland marine division director, congratulated MTC and told the gathering that ISO 9002 certification and registration has long been a goal of the Port as a method to providing and maintaining a very high level of customer service and improvements.

Paul Raymond, managing director of the ISO 9002 registration body Worldwide Quality Assurance (WQA), presented the certificate to MTC. WQA is based in the United Kingdom and certifies to ISO 9000 standards companies from various industries, including maritime, chemicals, hazardous liquid bulk and medical. As he presented the plaque, Raymond conveyed his respect to the personnel involved in the intensive certification process.

"MTC’s staff and management are well ahead of the competition by four to five years," Raymond said. "Mike (Morgan) was determined that all the procedures were perfectly in order to ensure the operation here in Portland is superb and professional, as with all the other MTC sites."

Immediately following the presentation, MTC held a cocktail/dinner reception at the Columbia Edgewater Country Club. Here, attending special guests were recognized and individual employees were acknowledged with awards and gifts for their exceptional hard work. Of those marked for special commendations were Pam Tetz, CY manager, Chris Meyer, planning manager, Alex Merwin, maintenance coordinator, and Peter Johnson, area operations manger who has been a part of three PNW registrations: Vancouver, Wash., Terminal 6 Portland, and the MTC auto divisions.

Portland’s T-6 container, intermodal yard and automobile complex, operated by MTC, is located in North Portland, at the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette rivers. Originally built in 1974 and now encompassing 488 acres, it is the Port’s largest marine terminal. It handles about 350,000 TEUs each year across three container berths using seven container cranes (2 of which are post-Panamax) on 150 acres. It also contains two import/export auto processing berths and terminals covering 186 acres and a 53-acre on-dock intermodal rail yard with 82 double-stack railcar capacity.

Marine Terminals Corp., founded in 1931 and newly headquartered in Oakland, handles all major cargoes on the U.S. West Coast, including containers, automobiles, newsprint, refrigerated products, steel, wood products, general, breakbulk, bulk and special projects. For more information on the company, visit their Web site: www.mtcorp.com or call (800) 676-5252.

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