Commitment to quality equals success

The Port of Baltimore’s success as an auto port is attributable to its geographic location as the closest East Coast port to the Midwest. “The Port also recognized the importance of customer satisfaction at a very early point in its journey to being the premier ro-ro port on the East Coast,” says Steve Loevsky, Ports America VP auto/ro-ro and cruise. Consequently, MPA and the port community of ocean carriers, processors, terminal operators, stevedore firms, port administration departments created a new program called Q-CHAT, an anagram for “Quality Cargo-Handling Action Team.” Ports America was an early participant of Q-CHAT. “The group was based on the principles that Zero Defect, Zero Damage is achievable and could be done by a commitment to process and standardization,” Loevsky says. “The entire Q-CHAT process is based on trust of the membership,” Loevsky explains. “It is determined that each group gets measured by each other.” The Port of Baltimore’s RoRo Rodeo is another program in which Ports America participates that offers an opportunity for labor to handle, maneuver and drive new equipment in a controlled environment with personal instruction and knowledge imparted directly from the manufacturers. “This educational event for labor to get better skilled and knowledgeable about the cargo they are actually loading and unloading is a two-way communication tool as labor then gives feedback to the manufacturers on the experience,” Loevsky reports.