1928 - Robert M. Gordon Sr. began his career as a mechanical engineer for the Blaw-Knox Steel Construction Company. He quickly became familiar with the application of grease and lubricants in the steel industry and began developing a number of different lubricant related products.
1933 - Robert M. Gordon Sr. started Gordon Lubricating Company in Carnegie, PA.
1938 - Gordon Lubricating Company became a distributor for Standard Oil of California, handling the RPM Delo brand of diesel engine oil that was popular in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia coal mines.
1948 - R.M. Gordon Sr. moved the Gordon Lubricating Company’s operations and plant to McKees Rocks, PA, 3.1 miles down the Ohio River from the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers in Pittsburgh. His first contract was with Cities Service Company for blending, packaging and shipping bulk automotive and industrial oils.
The move to McKees Rocks spurred the building of offices, a central warehouse and a laboratory that are still in use today.
1951 - Gordon Lubricating Company secured contracts with Gulf Oil Company.
1954 - Robert M. Gordon Jr. began his career at Gordon Lubricating Company.
1962 - R. M. Gordon Sr. passed away. Control of the company operations were assumed by his sons Bob and Tucker Gordon.
1963 - The Company incorporated the Tioga Pipeline Company to provide jet fuel delivery via pipeline to the Greater Pittsburgh Airport.
1966 - The Company acquired property and began bulk operations and packaging antifreeze and petrochemicals in the New York Harbor in Bayonne, New Jersey.
1968 - Gordon Terminal acquired a barge, rail and truck depot in South St. Paul. Minnesota. After operating that facility for 13 years, it was sold to Hawkins Chemical. The various companies were consolidated to form subsidiaries of Gordon Terminal Service Company that year.
1973 - Blow-molding and labeling one gallon F-style plastic bottles for antifreeze in both McKees Rocks and Bayonne commenced.
1977 - The McKees Rocks plant began blow-molding labeling and filling round plastic quarts for automotive oils followed two years later by the Bayonne plant. This marked the Bayonne plant’s first venture into handling lubricating oils.
1980 - The Bayonne plant began manufacturing and packaging lubricating oils for CITGO and Texaco.
1982 - Gordon Packaging Service was incorporated to provide blow-molding and packaging of automotive lubricants in Chester PA.
1987 - The Bayonne plant suffered a devastating fire and had to be torn down and rebuilt. The rebuilding process took over two years but the business continued without missing a beat. The Company leased a warehouse in South Plainfield, NJ and ramped up production in McKees Rocks and in Chester. The Bayonne blow-molding operations were not rebuilt.
1992 - Gordon Packaging Service was dissolved and the business was absorbed into the McKees Rocks and Bayonne Plants.
Our company’s history does not end in 1992. Change has been constant. We have re-invested deeply in upgrades, infrastructure, environmental protection and Homeland Security in order to remain on the leading edge so that we may attract and retain high quality clients.
Gordon Terminal Service now has over 2.25 million barrels of storage capacity, produces nearly 25 million plastic bottles and jugs and ships over 40,000 tanker transports of brand-name industrial oil and lubricants each year. Gordon Terminal does not market any of the products that we produce. High quality service is the only product that we market.
Gordon Terminal Service Mission Statement
Gordon Terminal Service Company is committed to achieving total customer satisfaction through the provision of error-free service and the manufacture of quality products that are continually improving.
Our commitment to quality begins with top management and involves every employee in our company. As a service company that produces products bearing our customers' names, Gordon Terminal must produce products that meet or exceed our customers, needs and expectations. All Gordon Terminal employees recognize that our quality and productivity must improve continually if we are to be competitive now and in the future.