APM Terminals appointed a new chief for its second-largest North American marine terminal as the facility nears the completion of a $200 million upgrade.
Jon Poelma was named the managing director of APM Terminals in Elizabeth, New Jersey, effective Nov. 1. He succeeds David Gledhill, who retired Sept. 30.
APM, the terminals subsidiary of Maersk, said Poelma “has extensive transportation industry experience and success in transforming operations and improving the customer experience.”
His most recent experience was serving as president and chief operating officer for chassis lessor Consolidated Chassis Management in New Jersey. Previously, he served four years at Schneider National as director of intermodal operations in its Eastern region.
He also worked at Maersk for 12 years in various roles of increasing responsibility in trade and strategy.
“Jon’s appointment will bring out the best in our customers, our stakeholders and our people,” said APM Terminals North America President and Chief Executive Officer Wim Lagaay. “Elizabeth is one of our most important U.S. East Coast ports and he and our current management team can take our operations to the next level for our customers. Equally important, his experience in trucking and intermodal fits well with the large intermodal operations we have at Elizabeth.”
Poelma is arriving at Elizabeth as it nears completion of a three-year, $200 million upgrade project that allows the site to handle the larger vessels that are calling at the Port of New York and New Jersey.
APM Elizabeth installed four new ship-to-shore cranes and upgraded its berth. The new berth can handle three ultra-large container ships simultaneously, APM said.
Shoreside capacity also will get a boost with a new gate truck complex opening in the first quarter of 2020. The new gate complex will provide 24 inbound gates and 16 outbound terminal gates to optimize traffic through the terminal and reduce truck turnaround times, APM said. A new trucker appointment system is also being added in 2020.