Safety Matters - On and Off the Road

Mandy Kolodkin is a trusted legal advocate in the trucking and transportation sector offering invaluable insights and unwavering support to her clients. Her practice focuses on handling trucking cases in both state and federal courts, representing a diverse clientele comprising trucking companies, drivers, and insurance companies. Kolodkin's services are highly sought after for urgent response needs, allowing her to promptly address critical situations. Furthermore, she excels in post-incident liability assessment and defense, skillfully identifying and developing key evidence essential to her clients’ defense when immediate response is not feasible.

In addition to her robust trucking and transportation practice, she also handles a diverse array of cases, spanning products liability, toxic tort, environmental, life sciences, professional liability, cyber security, commercial litigation, and general liability claims.

Jill Maschmeier is a professional Safety Director with National Carriers with 20 years of experience.

Marcia Faschingbauer is the president and CEO of Excargo Services Inc., a transportation logistics company that provides expert intermodal, drayage, trans loading and warehouse solutions for major importers and exporters to and from the Port of Houston and area rail terminals in Texas and the bordering states.

In 1979, Faschingbauer started a business to provide reliable transport of export containers after seeing the need in her family’s food business. The young company did so well that she acquired Excargo Services just four years later. Under Faschingbauer’s leadership, Excargo grew with a strong focus on safety, communication, sustainability and customer service excellence.

Faschingbauer is a lifelong learner, consistently pursuing executive education opportunities. She also fosters a culture of continuous improvement among her team members at Excargo. Faschingbauer holds a degree from the University of Texas at Austin and has completed executive programs at Rice University’s Jones School and Dartmouth’s Tuck Business School.

A native Houstonian, Faschingbauer is committed to the community and gives her time and resources to the industry she loves, as well as to her passions: the arts, education, and gardening. She has served as Chair of the Texas Trucking Association and currently serves on the boards of the American Trucking Associations, Greater Houston Port Bureau, Southwest Movers Foundation, University of Houston Supply Chain Advisory Board, and Mercury Chamber Orchestra. In addition, she is a member of several business organizations, including the Women’s Business Enterprise Alliance and Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce.

Faschingbauer’s contributions have garnered recognition, culminating in her induction into the Texas Women’s Business Hall of Fame in 2023. She resides in Houston with her husband, and together they share a love for travel, the outdoors, and the arts, which continue to inspire their lives.

Bob Bringgold is the Director of Transportation Risk Control for the Northland Insurance. He began his career in 1982 and has experience with varied types of risks in trucking and logistics. He leads a group of exceptionally talented Risk Control Transportation Specialists that conduct risk assessments and service client needs. He is responsible for work assignments, client service delivery, staff development, and client relationship management.  
 
Mr. Bringgold graduated from Minnesota State - Mankato with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Construction Management. He has completed advanced training in industrial hygiene, ergonomics, safety management, post injury management, and exceptional management practices.

Morgan Tavallaee joined the staff of the North Central Texas Council of Governments’ Department, the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Dallas-Fort Worth Area, in 2019. Tavallaee has accomplished many important goods movement projects and initiatives for NCTCOG, including the Freight Safety Campaign and Rail Crossing Analysis. Tavallaee has worked and collaborated with state and federal agencies, local governments, and public-private partnerships to move improve freight movements for the 16-county Dallas-Fort Worth Area.

Tavallaee studied Public Administration at the University of Texas at Dallas for her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She is also part of the Regional Freight Advisory Committee which serves to enhance, maximize, and promote regional freight mobility.