Archive for American Auto Works

Mike Lichtfuss

Chief People Officer

Mike joined ITS ConGlobal in 2018, and throughout his tenure, he has played an essential role in re-setting ITS ConGlobal’s performance trajectory. Mike’s background and approach are deeply aligned with our commitment to the people of our organization. His people-first approach will help us create an inviting and inclusive culture, invest in the development of our teams, and provide recognition for delivering results the right way.

Prior to joining ITS ConGlobal, Mike worked in various industries including, Manufacturing, Oil and Gas, and Transportation. His experience spans across all aspects of the Human Resources function, particularly HR strategy, talent and organizational development, cultural transformation and learning and development.

Mike and his wife Rachel, have two young children and reside in Bolingbrook, IL.

Jon Stevens

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Stevens has over 20 years of experience in the field of Accounting & Finance with substantial public companies to small private ones.

Together with our Executive Leadership Team, Mr. Stevens will develop the overall strategic plan of the business. As CFO, he will provide continuous evaluation of short and long-term strategic financial objectives and guidance to enhance financial performance and business growth opportunities. Mr. Stevens holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with a double major in Accounting and Finance, as well as a Masters of Accountancy from Abilene Christian University. He also has an MBA from Texas Christian University and is a licensed CPA in Texas.

Rene Etcharren

Senior Vice President – Depot

With over two decades of experience in the transportation industry, Mr. Etcharren has extensive operating, business development and international expertise. He was formerly ConGlobal Industries’ Senior Vice President Operations, responsible for all operations, including governmental affairs and partnership relationships in Latin America. Prior to ConGlobal Industries, Mr. Etcharren was Vice President for Container-Care International, responsible for developing container terminal operations in Mexico and Latin America. Mr. Etcharren received a BBA in International Business from The University of Texas at Austin.

Chad Bowman

Senior Vice President – Rail

Chad Bowman has more than a decade of experience in intermodal terminal operations, which includes working with the CSX, NS and Union Pacific Railroads. Mr. Bowman began his In‑Terminal Services career as a Terminal Operator; he quickly rose through the ranks to hold the positions of Operations Manager, Assistant Terminal Manager and Terminal Manager before being assigned to his current position.

Marc Bumgarner

Vice President Sales & Marketing

With two decades of experience in the transportation industry, Mr. Bumgarner began his career at Santa Fe Railroad in the Intermodal Business Unit, and went on to hold positions in strategic planning, pricing and business development. He most recently served as Vice President of Strategic Planning & Acquisitions at Matson Logistics. With In-Terminal Services since 2012, Mr. Bumgarner graduated from Northwestern University and Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Brian Mellen

Chief Information Officer

With over two decades of experience in the transportation industry, Mr. Mellen has extensive expertise running technology initiatives, including technical and network operations, as well as software programming and design. He was formerly ConGlobal Industries’ CTO. Prior to ConGlobal Industries, Mr. Mellen was an Information Technology Specialist, responsible for developing and integrating transportation and logistics software. Mr. Mellen received a BS in Accounting and Finance from Carroll College.

Paul Kleppetsch

Vice President & General Counsel

Mr. Kleppetsch joined ITS in August 2015. Most recently, he was a partner with Cassiday Schade LLP in its Chicago office, where he concentrated his practice in the areas of construction, product liability and transportation defense. His practice included litigation in both the state and federal levels. Mr. Kleppetsch received his J.D. from The John Marshall Law School, and he holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from The University of Dayton.

Tony Schrader

Group Vice President – Auto

With two decades of experience in the auto handling business, Mr. Schrader has extensive operating experience with automobile facilities, new car loading and unloading facilities, contract switching, and auto plant site loading and shuttling operations. As a co-owner, Mr. Schrader sold his business—now re-branded as American Auto Works—to ITS ConGlobal in 2011. Prior to American Auto Works, Mr. Schrader managed Norfolk Southern’s Kansas City Mixing Center, the largest facility of its kind at the time, processing nearly one million automobiles a year.

Pete Strohla

Group Senior Vice President – Depot

Pete Strohla joined ITS Conglobal in 2018 as Senior VP Conglobal North America with responsibility for operations at the depots and marine terminals. After graduating from the US Merchant Marine Academy in 1985, Pete started working in the steamship industry as a stevedore superintendent at ports up and down the Texas coast. Since then he has held a series of leadership roles with responsibility for equipment management, maintenance and repair, vessel and terminal operations, sales, procurement, and process improvement. Pete received an MBA from the University of Tennessee and has a strong focus on service delivery, quality, and safety.

Mike Baldwin

Chairman

Mr. Baldwin, a Houston resident, began his 35+ year career in the intermodal industry with ITEL Rail Corporation (formerly listed as NYSE: ITEL). After several managerial and executive positions, Mr. Baldwin led a management buyout of ITEL Terminals from ITEL Rail Corporation, which was later renamed Global Intermodal Systems. Under his leadership Global Intermodal Systems grew by over 400% in 12 years. In September 2004, Global Intermodal Systems merged with its largest competitor, Container-Care International. As CEO of the newly formed entity called ConGlobal Industries, the company quickly became the world’s largest intermodal depot services company serving over 300 international customers from 23 locations in the United States, Mexico and Costa Rica. Mr. Baldwin has a demonstrated track record of success in operating and managing companies, in addition to growing and building market share in highly competitive business environments. As ConGlobal’s CEO, Mr. Baldwin successfully acquired companies, managed greenfield startups, launched and grew new products and services and service locations, and has also successfully managed wind downs and divestitures. He has extensive experience in labor management, and developing highly effective, customer centric corporate cultures.

In 2014, Mr. Baldwin sold ConGlobal Industries, LLC to the Carlyle Group. Mr. Baldwin continued to serve as a non-executive Director on the ITSConGlobal Board, a Carlyle Group portfolio company. In 2017 Carlyle sold the company to Australia based AMP Capital. Mr. Baldwin serves today on the Board of ITS ConGlobal and also serves as a strategic advisor to AMP Capital. In addition, Mr. Baldwin serves as Houston based RockHill Capital’s Operating Partner, acting as mentor for several of RockHill’s portfolio company CEO’s. Mr. Baldwin has recently served on, or currently serves on the Board of several Industrial Services Companies located throughout Texas, including, Rail Services and Logistics (RSL), Alpha Technical Services (ATS), CORE Holdings, JP Hydro Services, and Houston based Big City Access, LLC.

Brant Ring

Chief Executive Officer

Brant Ring joined ITS ConGobal from BNSF Railway, where he most recently served as Vice President, Executive.  In this role, Mr. Ring reported directly to BNSF’s President and CEO and had broad responsibility for leading enterprise-wide efforts to drive improvement in BNSF’s overall cost structure, finding new and more efficient ways of doing business, and deploying technology to increase overall productivity and efficiency at BNSF.  Immediately prior, Mr. Ring served as Vice President, Business Unit Operations where he led the teams responsible for intermodal and automotive terminal operations, freight car management, customer support, and emerging technology.  Over his decade of leading intermodal and automotive terminal operations, Mr. Ring built an industry-wide reputation for driving innovation, employee engagement, customer service, and continuous improvement in terminal operations.

Mr. Ring began his career in 1995 and has since held a variety of line and staff roles with progressive leadership responsibility in Operations, Finance, Network Strategy, and Marketing.

He holds an MBA from Texas Christian University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wyoming.

Brant and his wife, Paige, have three teenage children and reside in Fort Worth, Texas.

John Allen

Vice President – Business Process Development

Mr. Allen joined ITSConglobal in 2016 after serving as COO of International Asset Systems, a SaaS based software firm servicing the transportation industry. Prior to that, Mr. Allen develop a broad base of knowledge in the transportation industry serving over 24 years combined with Sea-Land and APL. Those positions included experience in marine terminal, intermodal and trucking operations. In addition, John lead the APL service centers in both Denver and Costa Rica that provided customer support, documentation and operations delivery to APL’s U.S. and Canadian customers. John served as Co-Chairman of the Intermodal Freight Technology Working Group and has been frequent speaker/panelist with IANA and other transportation organizations. Mr. Allen earned his B.A. in Economics from Princeton University and has a Masters of Science in Transportation from Denver University.

Steven L. Rubin

Chief Executive Officer

With almost three decades in the intermodal and container shipping industries, Mr. Rubin is deeply familiar with ITSTL’s business and customers. His experience includes serving as CEO of TRAC Intermodal, the largest chassis owner and lessor in the U.S., and Group Vice President Operations and Logistics at Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (“K” Line), one of Japan’s big three shipping lines. Most recently, he served as CEO of Horizon Lines, a SeaLand successor company and the largest U.S. domestic container shipping line until its sale last month to Matson Navigation. Mr. Rubin served as a Director of the Intermodal Association of North America for six years, and Chairman of that organization in 2011. In the mid-2000s, Mr. Rubin served on the Executive Committee of the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association, a trade association that owns Consolidated Chassis Management, the largest pure chassis pool-management company in the U.S. Mr. Rubin graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School with a B.A. in History and B.S. in Economics, respectively. He received his M.B.A. from the Stern School of Business at New York University, and obtained a CPA license in New York.

Michael Schlaman

Chief Human Resources Officer

Mr. Schlaman has more than two decades of experience in Human Resources and leads the HR function for ITS ConGlobal. Most recently, he served as the Sr. Vice President of Human Resources for the Schindler Group, where his focus was on developing leadership capability and organization effectiveness throughout the regions of North, Central, and South America. Formerly, Mr. Schlaman was a Human Resources Executive for GE Healthcare where he held various progressive Global HR leadership roles. He has also worked for other Fortune 500 companies, such as Pepsi, Honeywell, and Rockwell Automation. Mr. Schlaman has served as a guest speaker at various business, HR, and leadership conferences on topics such as Organization Change, Talent Management, and Leadership Effectiveness. He holds an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Tom Montagino

Vice President Environmental Health & Safety

With almost two decades of experience in multiple industries, Mr. Montagino has implemented best practice EH&S programs that reduced incident rates and losses for global companies. His areas of expertise in the EH&S field include behavior-based safety, mobile equipment safety, and loss reduction. Mr. Montagino is a Board Certified Safety Professional (CSP) with an MS in Safety Management from West Virginia University, an MBA from Philadelphia University, and a BS from Indiana University in Pennsylvania.

William ‘Bill’ Hamlin

Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Hamlin has decades of steamship, intermodal, equipment, depot and labor management experience. He was most recently COO of Horizon Lines; President of the Americas Division at APL; head of APL’s marine terminal business Eagle Marine; and various equipment management positions at SeaLand. He was a Board member of the Pacific Maritime Association, the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, and the University of Denver Intermodal Transportation Institute; he was also Chairman of OCEMA and Co-Chairman of the Intermodal Freight Transportation Working Group together with USDOT. Mr. Hamlin earned his B.S. from the University of Maine.