Posts Categorized: Pacific Northwest News
TOTE Maritime Alaska to Move its Headquarters to Tacoma in Spring of 2020
August 13, 2019
TOTE Maritime Alaska announced today that it plans to relocate its headquarters to Downtown Tacoma from its current address in Federal Way. The transition will bring nearly 150 TOTE employees to the 909 A Street Building every weekday. Employees of the company are excited about having access to all the restaurants, parks and amenities Tacoma has to offer as well as being part of a growing, urban community.
“TOTE Maritime Alaska helped build the Port of Tacoma and we are excited to be 100% located in the city that has supported our business and growth over the years. We look forward to bringing the TOTE office to Tacoma and are grateful for such a warm welcome,” said TOTE Maritime Alaska President, Grace Greene.
The upcoming move, planned for Spring 2020, will be TOTE’s second location in Tacoma, including their office at the Port of Tacoma, where they currently operate two cargo ships serving the Alaska market. Mayor Woodards reached out to Greene to congratulate her on the decision to choose Tacoma as home base.
“I am pleased to welcome TOTE Maritime’s corporate headquarters and the approximately 150 family wage jobs it will bring to Downtown Tacoma. I applaud the new ownership group for investing in and adapting this important property into a multi-tenanted space,” said Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards.
With historical roots in the Tacoma area, TOTE is looking forward to the office upgrade. Sellen has been hired as the general contractor on the project with Bonewitz providing project management and BCRA as architect. TOTE Maritime Alaska will continue supplying Alaska via their twice weekly shipping service between Anchorage and Tacoma.
Introducing Hyak Supply Chain to the Saltchuk Family of Companies
April 8, 2019
New brand, leadership introduced to headline Saltchuk’s logistics line of business
Saltchuk is pleased to introduce Hyak Supply Chain, the newest name in the Saltchuk family of companies. Hyak joins Foss, NorthStar Energy, TOTE, Northern Aviation Services
Leading the new business unit as President and CEO is Rick Murrell, who recently retired from Tropical after 40 years at the helm and is currently serving as Saltchuk SVP, Managing Director for the Caribbean. Murrell will work with leadership teams at two Saltchuk companies falling under the new brand, Carlile and Shoreside Logistics, to grow and develop their businesses.
The formation of Hyak reinforces Saltchuk’s commitment providing the best, most reliable logistics and supply chain services in the market.
National Business Research Institute Recognizes Saltchuk for their Commitment to Employee Engagement
November 27, 2018
High levels of Employee Engagement earn Saltchuk a place in NBRI’s Circle of Excellence.
The National Business Research Institute (NBRI) is pleased to welcome Saltchuk to the NBRI Circle of Excellence. The NBRI Circle of Excellence Award recognizes organizations that place a high value on Employee and Customer engagement. These organizations demonstrate their dedication by conducting best in class survey research with NBRI and taking action based upon the results. NBRI commends the leadership of these organizations for their commitment to the Continuous Improvement Process and recognizes their achievements with the Circle of Excellence Award.
To qualify for this honor, the organization must score at or above Stretch Performance at the 75th benchmarking percentile when measured against their industry, or the organization must improve 5 or more benchmarking percentiles in total company score over the previous research study, a statistically significant amount. It is no small feat to move an entire company’s score of customer loyalty or employee engagement 5 or more percentiles, or to reach Stretch or Best in Class Performance levels.
“Employee Engagement drives Financial Performance,” said Dr. Jan G. West, Ph.D., CEO & Organizational Psychologist at NBRI. “This award is a result of Saltchuk’s dedication to measuring and improving their Employee Engagement.”
About NBRI
NBRI conducts Employee, Customer, and Market Research for businesses, and uses this data to help organizations leverage these human factors to make improvements to operations and strategy. With its extensive experience across all industries, NBRI’s research teams bring their clients a combination of deep industry knowledge and expert advice. NBRI’s mission is to help their Clients set new standards of excellence in their industries. NBRI product offerings, such as the Root Cause Analysis, ensures their clients will focus on the most impactful issues.
TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico receives top honors in Quest for Quality Awards
August 7, 2018
TOTE received the best score in both the Value and IT categories
Jacksonville, FL – Last week it was announced that TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico was ranked number one in the value and IT categories for Ocean Carriers in this year’s Quest for Quality awards. These awards are a reflection of the long term investments being made by TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico – including the world’s first LNG powered containerships, terminal upgrades and custom equipment for customers – to ensure best in class service for the Puerto Rico market.
Logistics Management’s annual Quest for Quality awards ranks Ocean carriers. This annual award is driven by feedback from customers.
“TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico is excited to receive top honors in both of these categories” noted Tim Nolan, President and CEO of TOTE.
“Over the last few years, we have implemented new programs and secured new equipment to support diverse customer needs and ensure customer are receiving a best in class customer experience and great value when working with TOTE Maritime.”
Value and information technology, the categories where TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico scored highest in the industry, were ranked as the second and third most important attributes of a successful ocean carrier, preceded only by on-time performance.
Over the last five years, TOTE Maritime Puerto has invested in all aspects of operations to provide a competitive, best in class service for the Puerto Rico trade. These investments include new equipment, new vessels, updated operating systems, and new terminal systems to increase efficiency.
In the last six months, TOTE Maritime has launched a series of new and updated customer tools to improve the customer experience and increase the value of doing business with TOTE Maritime. These investments include additional new equipment such as 53’ and 40’ chassis as well as:
- an additional 300 x 40’ chassis delivered to Puerto Rico in June.
- an additional 220 x 53’ newly built containers, distributed in the last two months.
- an additional 200 x 53’ chassis are being delivered this week (week of August 6).
Most recently, TOTE Maritime launched a new mobile application allowing customers access to cargo and sailing information at any time of day from any device.
In addition to these equipment and IT updates, TOTE continues to adjust service offerings in line with customers’ needs. Specifically, TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico will continue to maintain Saturday gate hours in San Juan, as they have done since the beginning of 2018, to support customer cargo needs on the island.
“These updates are critical to providing customers with access to cargo and vessel information at any time of day from any device in the world” commented Bill Taylor, Vice President of Sales. “We know our customers expect best in class service and we are committed to providing the best customer experience possible.”
View the select list of Ocean Carrier Winners.
Leadership Transitions Announced for TOTE Maritime Companies
June 12, 2018
Michael Noone will become President of TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico and Grace Greene will assume the role of President at TOTE Maritime Alaska
Today TOTE announced leadership changes within its TOTE Maritime division. 
Michael Noone, currently President of TOTE Maritime Alaska will transition and become President at TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico. Grace Greene, currently Vice President and General Manager at TOTE Maritime Alaska has been promoted to President and will take over for Noone.
These transitions are the first changes within the TOTE organization following the announcement that Tim Nolan will step into the role of President and CEO following the retirement of Anthony Chiarello later this summer.
“I am excited for the opportunity to work with another TOTE company and I look forward to working closer with my colleagues in Jacksonville and San Juan in serving our customers in the Puerto Rico trade” commented Mike Noone. “It has been wonderful to work with my colleagues and the customers in the Alaska trade for the last five years – they have been like a family. Their commitment to Alaska is reflected in TOTE Maritime Alaska’s recent Quest for Quality Award as the Top Ocean Carrier. I am grateful for their support and dedication and I look forward to becoming a part of the Puerto Rico team.”
Noone has more than 30 years of experience in the maritime industry and has been with TOTE Maritime Alaska since 2013. He will officially step into his role on September 4, immediately following the Labor Day holiday. Greene will assume the role of President for TOTE Maritime Alaska on August 6.
“Having lived in Alaska for nearly 10 years, I have personally experienced the critical support that TOTE Maritime Alaska provides to the people and communities of this state” noted Grace Greene. “I look forward to serving as President of TOTE Maritime Alaska and working with the entire team to build on our 40 year success.”
Greene has worked for TOTE Maritime since 2014 and served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a helicopter pilot and Aircraft Commander.
“This is an exciting time for the TOTE family of companies” noted Nolan. “I am confident that we have the best people leading the TOTE Maritime organization into the future. Their leadership will build on TOTE’s 40+ year commitment to providing the best maritime shipping services to the communities of Alaska and Puerto Rico.”
About TOTE
TOTE is a leading transportation and logistics company, overseeing some of the most trusted companies in the U.S. domestic trade. TOTE Maritime Alaska and TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico bring a focus on reliability and service to their respective markets. TOTE Services offers crewing and technical services to meet the needs of commercial, privately owned and U.S. Government vessels. TOTE owns and operates the most environmentally friendly cargo fleet in U.S., including the world’s first LNG powered containerships that serve the Puerto Rico trade.
TOTE is part of the Saltchuk family of companies. For more information on TOTE please visit www.toteinc.com.