Dieter Schlimmer, an industry veteran who founded Phoenix-Sea-Land-Air in 1985 and Phoenix Transport Services GmbH in 1991, retired at the end of 2008 after a broad-ranging career. With over 50 years of experience in Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa, and Asia, Schlimmer’s passion and commitment helped define and form the current scope of business in the United States Department of Defense military household goods program. Throughout his career, Schlimmer always ensured that his customers had the information, contacts, and assertiveness to provide the U.S. military with the best and most innovative service possible. He began as a transportation apprentice for a Dutch shipping company in Mannheim at a time when Germany was an impoverished and war-torn country. Soon he was transferred to the materials and supplies department for the U.S. forces in Germany, northern Italy, and eastern France, where he gained experience in port handling, dispatching, special routing, air freight, and railroads. In 1959 Schlimmer was hired by his mentor, Donald E. Rowe of Imperial Household Shipping Co., Inc. in Mannheim, where he helped implement Door to Door, Code 4 in Germany, Holland, and Belgium, and trained agents to pack for the U.S. DoD. By 1960 DPM airfreight was changing into Code 8, so in 1962 Schlimmer opened the Thru-Container Airlift Operation in Frankfurt, Germany, representing Imperial and TWA as a military sales agent. He eventually became president of the company. Through Imperial‘s corporate innovation and Schlimmer’s ability to constantly implement change, new ideas, and technology, Thru-Container grew into a major operation, with expertise in emergency operations, charters, large consolidations, source loading, creative routing, monitored warehouses, and innovative rail and trucking. With transportation and forwarding in his DNA, Dieter Schlimmer now serves as a consultant to Govlog in Antwerp, Belgium, where he continues offering his experience and contacts to his long-time friends and business partners.