Nelly Yunta, vice president of sales, marketing and customer care, liner and logistics business groups for Crowley Maritime Corp. in Jacksonville, FL, and vice president of Customized Brokers, the customs brokerage and consulting division located in Miami, said that the company will not be exhibiting at the 2014 Southern Exposure conference and expo, but that it will have a presence.

“Mauro Suazo, business development manager, will be attending the conference representing Customized Brokers,” said Yunta. “I have attended the event the previous two years. We find this a valuable opportunity to speak with exhibitors and visitors alike about things like door-to-door logistics and visibility, cargo insurance, temperature recording and monitoring capabilities while reefer cargo is in-transit, among other topics.”

Customized Brokers is a part of the Florida Perishable Trades Coalition, and it serves on the board of the Fresh Produce Import Alliance. Yunta said she feels that the Southern Exposure event is a great venue to meet with both existing and potential customers on a face-to-face basis.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to speak with customers about their needs as the industry becomes more and more competitive,” noted Yunta. “The conference also allows Customized Brokers to evaluate the markets and current state of the industry first hand.”

Customized Brokers’ parent company, Crowley Maritime Corp., continues to invest in facilities that link all of our services from point origin to final destination like Crowley Fresh, a state-of-the-art cold storage and warehouse facility in Miami.

The company also continues to work diligently with importers of Chilean blueberries to meet the new fumigation guidelines.

On Jan. 29, Crowley Maritime Corp.’s Guatemala-based liner and logistics teams moved into a new office space in the heart of Guatemala City, the country’s bustling metropolis and most populous city in Central America.

Modeled after Crowley’s Jacksonville headquarters, the office’s open layout maximizes the workspace while promoting a collaborative environment and synergy between the two business units, which were previously housed in separate buildings.

“Combining the liner and logistics teams under one roof allows Crowley to better streamline services between departments, maximizing interdepartmental efficiency,” said Yunta. “This means that customers can now reach both the liner and logistics teams via a single phone number.

“Additionally, a Transmetro station located just outside of the office makes accessing the building via Guatemala City’s bus-based mass public transit system a breeze for both Crowley customers and employees.

In a press release announcing the new facility, Steve Collar, senior vice president and general manager, Latin America liner services, said, “The open office workspace is still a novel concept in Central America, but it continues to work remarkably well for us as a company. Moving into our new office in Guatemala allows us to more closely align the liner and logistics business units and better serve the needs of our customers.”

Jacksonville-based Crowley Holdings Inc., a holding company of the 122-year-old Crowley Maritime Corp., is a privately held family- and employee-owned company. The company provides project solutions, transportation and logistics services in domestic and international markets by means of six operating lines of business: Puerto Rico/Caribbean Liner Services, Latin America Liner Services, Logistics Services, Petroleum Services, Marine Services and Technical Services.

Offered within these operating lines of business are liner container shipping, logistics, contract towing and transportation; ship assist and escort; energy support; salvage and emergency response through its TITAN Salvage subsidiary; vessel management; vessel construction and naval architecture through its Jensen Maritime subsidiary; government services, and petroleum and chemical transportation, distribution and sales.