2024 ANNUAL CONFERENCE SPEAKERS
REBECCA BREWSTER
President and Chief Operating Officer of the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI)
Rebecca is the recipient of several awards including Fleet Owner magazine’s 2016 Dozen Outstanding Women in Trucking, the 2013 Influential Woman in Trucking award from the Women in Trucking Association, and the 2010 J.R. Bob Halladay award given by the 50 state trucking associations. Rebecca has been with ATRI for 30 years. Prior to that, she was the Public and Governmental Affairs Director for the Cary, North Carolina Chamber of Commerce and a Fleet Analyst with Moen, Inc. She has a B.A. in English from Wofford College and is a Fellow of the North Carolina Institute of Political Leadership.
KEN CABRERA
President of Open Path Technologies
Since graduating from the NYU School of Engineering in 1991, Ken has helped companies enhance operations and improved profitability through productivity applications, streamlined workflow management, and custom software development.
DALE CALHOUN
Executive Director, Florida Natural Gas Association
Dale Calhoun is the Executive Director of the Florida Natural Gas Association (FNGA). He is responsible for the overall management of the association and also for the governmental affairs activities within the executive and legislative branches of Florida on behalf of FNGA and several energy clients he represents through Calhoun Management & Consulting, LLC. Dale began working for the FNGA in 2011 and became the Executive Director in 2014. He previously worked for G. David Rogers & Associates, Inc. as Vice President, served Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam in his Office of Policy and Budget, and Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Bronson in his Office of Legislative Affairs and Office of Water Policy. He is a graduate of Florida State University.
BOB COSTELLO
Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, American Trucking Associations
Bob Costello is the Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the national trade association for the trucking industry. As Chief Economist, he manages all of ATA's collection, analysis and dissemination of trucking economic information. This includes several monthly trucking economic indicators, motor carrier financial and operating data, an annual freight transportation forecast, driver wage studies, weekly diesel fuel price and economic reports, and a yearly trucking almanac. Bob also conducts economic analyses of proposed regulations and legislation affecting the trucking industry.
CHRIS DUDLEY
Partner, The Southern Group
Chris Dudley joined The Southern Group’s Tallahassee office in 2000 after serving for seven years at the highest levels of Florida government. Since that time, Chris has developed extensive expertise in numerous policy areas, including appropriations, campaigns, education, economic and business development, energy, gaming, pharmacy, land use and development, sports and entertainment, technology, transportation, and utilities.
Chris started his career in government working as a legislative aide in the Florida House of Representatives. In 1995, Chris began work in the Florida Department of Education as a special assistant, deputy legislative director, and deputy chief of staff to Education Commissioner Frank Brogan. In 1998, Chris joined the Bush-Brogan campaign for governor and ultimately rose to become deputy chief of staff to Governor Jeb Bush.
In his professional role, Chris has been widely recognized for his skills and expertise. Chris was a founding member of the Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists and in 2016 was named Lobbyist of the Year by Influence Magazine.
MELANIE S. GRIFFIN
Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
Melanie S. Griffin, Esq. serves as the Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to head the agency beginning January 1, 2022, Secretary Griffin leads Florida’s regulation of nearly 1.7 million licensees across more than 30 fields of industry.
Secretary Griffin’s work effecting positive change has been celebrated through her inclusion in the Florida Women Power 100 by City and State Florida (2022), and the Florida Construction Power 100 by City and State Florida (2022). She has also received the CDBIA Professional Women in Building Council Champion of Building Award (2023), the FSU College of Law Alumni Association Service Award (2020), KNOW Tampa Contributor Feature (2020), The Florida Bar Solo & Small Firm Section Mentor of the Year Award (2019), The Best of KNOW Feature (2019), The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division Outstanding Woman Lawyer of Achievement Award (2018), KNOW Tampa Feature (2018), Girl Scouts of West Central Florida Woman of Promise Award (2017), FSU Inspire Award (2017), and the Tampa Bay Business Journal Business Woman of the Year Angie Joseph Excellence in Mentorship Award (2016).
Additionally, Secretary Griffin previously served as a gubernatorial appointed member of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority (TBARTA), of which she chaired the Policy Committee (2017-2019). Presently, she is a Florida Bar Foundation Fellow and member of the Tampa Bay Chamber Leadership Tampa Alumni (Class ’16), FSU Student Affairs Development Council, FSU College of Law Board of Visitors and J.D. Advisors Program, and FSU College of Business Board of Governors.
FRANK LANCASTER
Sales Consultant, Netradyne
Frank has 26+ years in the Transportation business. He sold freight solutions at two trucking companies, with the last 19 years selling fleet management solution services to Trucking Executives. Frank has been a Sales Consultant with Netradyne for the last 2+ years, focusing on improving safety through driver coaching and positive recognition, facilitated by AI-based video telematics.
DOUG MARCELLO
Shareholder, Saxton & Stump; Chief Legal Advisor, Bluewire
Doug is a shareholder with the law firm of Saxton & Stump and Chief Legal Officer of Bluewire, is a trucking defense attorney with a CDL. He had represented trucking clients across the country, having been specially admitted for cases in 35 states. Doug received the 2018 Leadership Award of the ATA Safety Council. He has served on the advisory board of the American Trucking Research Institute. Doug is a member of numerous trucking organizations, including a board member of the PA Motor Truck Association and member of the American Trucking Association Safety Council as well as trucking law organizations including TIDA and Transportation Lawyers.
JEREMY MARTIN
Safety Specialist with Open Path Technologies - Certified CDL Master Instructor
Jeremy brings over 20 years of experience in the trucking transportation industry, having driven more than 2 million safe miles. From 2000 to 2015, he served in the US Army, overseeing frontline logistics operations. He is a certified Master Instructor in driver safety and vehicle inspection.
ABHINAV 'ABHI' NARAYANAN
Business Development Manager at Geotab
Abhi is a Business Development Manager at Geotab specializing in data intelligence. Bringing together a deep technical background, diverse industry experience, and the passion of a storyteller, Abhi is known for his ability to turn complex insights into engaging stories that resonate and inspire. Outside of his day job, Abhi is a pop culture enthusiast, amateur hockey player, and dog dad to Ellie the corgi.
MICHAEL "MIKE" PLASENCIA
Managing Director, RyderVentures and New Product Strategy, Ryder System, Inc.
Michael “Mike” Plasencia is Managing Director of RyderVentures and New Product Strategy at Ryder System, Inc. He is responsible for coordinating the ideation and development of new products in the Ryder pipeline, along with Ryder’s Autonomous Vehicles partnerships and product strategy. Mike also leads operations for RyderVentures, a $50M Corporate Venture Capital fund focused on investing in startups who are driving and tackling disruptions across the supply chain.
Most recently, Mike was Senior Finance Director of the Center of Excellence within the Maintenance organization, where he and his team of data scientists were responsible for advanced financial and data analytics for a nearly $1B cost center. He also held successive roles in Operations within Ryder’s Dedicated Transportation Solutions segment, where he led the ground-up development of a Common Carrier Trucking operation in the Oil & Gas industry and managed several key account operations. Mike began his career with Ryder in 2010 as a Manager within the Corporate Strategy and Development group. Before Ryder, Mike held various roles within the Industrial Engineering function at UPS and several startup ventures.
Mike has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering, cum laude, from the University of Miami.
MARILYN SURBER
VP of Sales and Marketing, Drivers Legal Plan/ Principal and Co-Founder, Candela Professional Group
VP of Sales and Marketing, Marilyn Surber joined Drivers Legal plan in April 2024. Marilyn is also Principal and Co-Founder of Candela Professional Group. Marilyn has been a part of the transportation industry since 2008. She is passionate about serving the transportation industry and is an advocate for the transportation community. She has over 15 years’ experience in corporate communication, industry relations, recruiting, safety and driver training. Before joining Drivers Legal Plan Marilyn served in several roles with Tenstreet, Melton Truck Lines, and Hilti, Inc. Marilyn holds a bachelor's degree in communication from The University of Tulsa. She served on the Board of Directors for the Commercial Vehicle Training Association, where she was named Member of the Year in 2019 and was selected by Oklahoma Magazine as a Top 40 under 40 for the state of Oklahoma in 2019. In addition, Marilyn was named a Woman To Watch In Transportation in 2023 by the Women In Trucking Association. Marilyn is an active member of American Trucking Association, Truckload Carriers Association, Florida Trucking Association, North Carolina Trucking Association, Commercial Vehicle Training Association, and the National Association of Publicly Funded Truck Driving Schools. Additionally, Marilyn serves on the Women In Motion Advisory Board for ATA, the Women Executive Council and Network for the Florida Trucking Association, and the North Carolina Trucking Association Women In Trucking Advisory Board.
LEE WHITE
President, LM White Consulting
Lee White- Lee White is an Autonomous Trucking & Logistics expert with deep strategy and operations expertise in the AV trucking space. With four decades of experience, he works at the forefront of the autonomous trucking industry to position stakeholders in the AV ecosystem for long-term success.
More recently, as the Vice President of Strategy for TuSimple, he built the autonomous freight network business model, partnerships, operations, and ecosystem, enabling multiple customers to test autonomous trucking for hundreds of thousands of miles with real freight on real lanes. His mandate spanned all aspects of the network—from defining the business model to engaging and onboarding partners—resulting in a $9 million network with 15+ customers across 11 states.
Today, as the President of LM White Consulting, Lee works with fleets, OEMs, and carriers in developing forward-looking strategies, business models, and roadmaps for AV operations. His unique background allows him to bring all systems, planning, operations, and structures together to allow his clients to rapidly adopt, integrate, and scale the technology. Lee earned a bachelor’s degree in economics at the University of Georgia.
MICHAEL WIESINGER
Vice President of Commercialization and General Manager of Kodiak's Transportation Sector
Michael Wiesinger is the Vice President of Commercialization and General Manager of Kodiak's Transportation Sector. He is responsible for bringing Kodiak’s product to market, overseeing business development, partnerships, product strategy and definition, as well as product deployment and operations.
Michael spent most of his career in the automotive and supply chain industries. He worked for Detroit Diesel, a Daimler Truck subsidiary, before he joined BCG, where he focused on strategy, operations and supply chain topics for some of the world’s largest automotive OEMs. He was also part of the team that launched Ware2Go, a UPS company, where he built the company’s initial warehouse network and led all supply chain related topics. During his time at business school, Michael launched a new ride pooling service for Gett in London.