HIGH-TECH AND OLD-FASHIONED VALUES
By Bob Allen

Hanover Terminal, Inc. uses state-of-the-art Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) computer technology to receive, ship and track orders for over 12 million cases of products - everything from glassware from Romania, Thailand and Hong Kong to Mandarin oranges and Pineapples from Israel and Spain -- that flow in and out of its immense facility each year, via the Port of Baltimore.

Yet despite Hanover Terminal, Inc.'s reliance on technology to streamline operations at its two facilities, which contain 455,000 square feet of distribution and warehousing space (the equivalent of 6-plus foot-ball fields or 10-plus acres under roof) on 30 acres in Hanover -- including 50 truck docks and five CSX rail docks -- the company always keeps an eye on the fundamentals.

President and owner Kurt Dietrich and his staff of 40 (double that if drivers and support personnel for trucking companies Hanover Terminal contracts with are included) draw particular inspiration from the strong work ethic and rock-solid integrity of the Pennsylvania Dutch farmers who keep the agrarian tradition alive in surrounding south-central Pennsylvania. "We really are a company where high-tech mixes with old-fashioned muscle," says Dietrich, a Philadelphian who purchased Hanover Terminal, Inc. in 1977 and has since more than tripled

the operational capacity of the 43-year-old company. Last year over 300 million pounds of product passed through the company's gigantic distribution facility.

"We're both a business and a family, and that about says it all," Dietrich adds with matter-of-fact pride. "The tenure of our employees is exceptionally long, as is the tenure of most of our accounts -- which, on average is about 15 years. We just don't have turnover. It's that spirit that keeps the trucks moving in and out of our facility on time [often at the rate of a 100 or more a day] and our customers happy."

Dietrich is quick to give credit for his own company's dramatic growth, along with the parallel growth of many of the regional client companies he serves, to the proximity and accessibility

of the Port of Baltimore. "The port's proximity to us is obviously of great importance, because it's part of the service we offer to customers who import products from all over the world," says Dietrich, whose Center facility is conveniently located on the CSX Rail line. "Product is shipped from the port, unloaded and stored until orders are received, often via EDI. Orders are then automatically routed and consolidated into truckloads for delivery to customers throughout the Northeast or, in the case of several accounts, shipped all over the country, either to other distribution centers or directly to the customer. Our ability to consolidate orders of several accounts into truck-loads can reduce customers' freight costs enough that the savings can offset the cost of handling and storing the product, in many situations." Dietrich is a lot more than just a client of the Port of Baltimore; he's a big booster. In fact, he's so committed to solidifying and strengthening the economic partnership between the port and the south-central Pennsylvania corridor (which he calls "the hub of the North-east") that he's put great time and effort into working with the York County Industrial Development Authority to create a new foreign tradezone that now encompasses Hanover.

"This enables domestic companies to bring products in through the port, ship them to a Foreign Trade Zone for assembly, and then export the finished product without having paid a duty. In cases where the product is imported for distribution in this country, there are duty savings also on any value added to the product, such as labeling."

It's typical of Dietrich's "big picture" outlook that he takes almost as much pride in the success of his client companies, due to their ties to the Port of Baltimore, as he does in the booming success of Hanover Terminal, Inc.