Executive Advisory Board

Nicole Nason is the Chief Safety Officer and Head of External Affairs at Cavnue, a company founded by Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP) to accelerate and realize the full potential of connected and autonomous vehicles to make roads safer, less congested, shared, and sustainable. As the Senate-confirmed former Administrator of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, Nicole has been a leading advocate for critical advances in autonomous vehicles, innovative construction materials, and safety. Prior, she was appointed Assistant Secretary at the State Department's Bureau of Administration, responsible for managing the global supply, shipping, logistics, and transportation services. Previously, Nicole was unanimously confirmed as the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Jeffrey John Denham is an American Politician, United States Air Force veteran and businessman. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the U.S Representative for California’s 10 th congressional district stemming from 2013 to 2019. He first won election to the U.S. House in 2010 and represented California’s 19 th congressional district for one term before redistricting led Jeff to run in the 10 th district in 2012. From 2002 to 2010, Denham served as the California State Senate representing the 12 th district. During his congressional tenure, Denham was actively engaged in immigration issues, notably in the effort of drafting and passing legislation that would successfully resolve the status for Dreamers.

Before being named President and CEO, Eric Fuller served for five years as US Xpress’ President and COO responsible for operations including OTR, Dedicated services, customer service and planning. As Max Fuller’s oldest son, Eric has had the unique opportunity to gain a detailed understanding of US Xpress from the inside out. He is particularly attuned to the day-to-day challenges our employees face, because he has worked in a wide variety of roles across the company for nearly 20 years. His experience ranges from Process Engineer to Regional Operations Manager to Senior Vice President of Operations. Also, like his father, he is especially adept at inspiring people at all levels to innovate solutions for our customers and our company—solutions that will ensure US Xpress remains at the forefront of the transportation industry for years to come.

Girsky is a Managing Partner of VectoIQ, LLC, an independent advisory firm based in New York. Girsky has more than 30 years of experience working with corporate board executives, labor leaders, OEM leaders, suppliers and dealers, and national policy makers. Girsky served in a number of capacities at General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) (‘‘General Motors’’) from November 2009 until July 2014, including vice chairman, having responsibility for global corporate strategy, new business development, global product planning and program management, global connected consumer/OnStar, and GM Ventures LLC, global research & development and global purchasing and supply chain. Girsky also served on General Motors’ board of directors following its emergence from bankruptcy in June 2009 until June 2016. Girsky currently serves on the boards of directors of United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X), a steel producer, and Brookfield Business Partners Limited, the general partner of Brookfield Business Partners, L.P. (NYSE: BBU; TSX BBU.UN).

Jim Kolbe is a former member of the US House of Representatives from the state of Arizona, serving from 1985 through 2007. While in the House, he was a member of the Appropriations Committee, serving as chair of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs. He now serves as both a senior transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund think tank and on the Board of Counselors for Kissinger McLarty Associates. He is co-char of the Transatlantic Taskforce on Development with Gunila Carlsson, the Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation. He also serves as an adjunct professor in the College of Business at the University of Arizona.

Richard Kramer is Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President of The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. Richard's tenure as CEO – now the second-longest in company history – has coincided with an inflection point in transportation that has led to the evolution of Goodyear into a technology-driven mobility company. While it continues to supply customers with a portfolio of high-quality tires and services, Goodyear has established itself as a leader in providing services, tools, analytics, and products for evolving modes of transportation, including electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, and fleets of shared and connected consumer vehicles.

Derek Leathers is President and Chief Executive Officer of Werner Enterprises. Derek has worked in the transportation and logistics industry for over 20 years. Throughout his tenure at Werner, he has held integral roles in many facets of the organization, including the establishment of Werner’s Mexico operations, oversight for all the asset operating groups and leading the launch of Werner Global Logistics, which encompasses transportation management and freight movement within Intermodal, Ocean, Air and Brokerage. Our Board of Directors appointed Mr. Leathers as a member and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors in May 2020. Prior to joining Werner in 1999, Mr. Leathers was one of the first foreign members of Mexico’s trucking association (CANACAR) and was based out of Mexico City for several years. Mr. Leathers holds an Economics degree from Princeton University.

Persio Lisboa is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Navistar International Corporation. Prior to becoming CEO, Persio was Chief Operating Officer, leading all aspects of sales and operations both domestically and globally. Before that, he was President of Operations, responsible for manufacturing, product development, procurement, and supply chain, as well as the enterprise deployment of lean operating principles at Navistar. Persio also serves on the board of directors of the National Association of Manufacturers and James Hardie Industries, an industrial building materials company headquartered in Ireland.

Mark Rourke is the chief executive officer and president of Schneider, a premier provider of transportation, logistics and intermodal services. Rourke joined Schneider in 1987 as a service team leader at the company's Seville, Ohio, location. Prior to assuming his current role, he was Schneider’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. Rourke has held a variety of leadership roles with increasing responsibility, including president of Truckload Services and general manager of Schneider Transportation Management. He holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from the University of Akron and has attended programs on corporate governance and strategic leadership at Harvard University. Rourke serves on the board of directors for The Shyft Group, United States Chamber of Commerce, and the Trucking Alliance. He is an active leader in Northeast Wisconsin, serving on the Transportation & Logistics Task Force of the Greater Green Bay Chamber

Jean-Jacques Ruest was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer in July 2018, after having served as Interim President and CEO since March 2018. He was previously Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer since January 2010, with responsibility for providing the strategic direction and leadership for CN's Sales, Marketing and CN Supply Chain Solutions groups. Mr. Ruest joined CN in 1996 at the time of the privatization. Prior to this, Mr. Ruest worked for 16 years at a major international chemical company. Mr. Ruest holds a MBA in Marketing from HEC Montréal (Université de Montréal) and a Bachelor of Science degree in applied chemistry from Université de Sherbrooke. He also completed the executive program of the University of Michigan Business School, and CN's Railroad MBA program. Over the course of his career, Mr. Ruest has been honoured many times by the business community, notably as 2019 Railroader of the Year and an Inductee to the International Maritime Hall of Fame in 2017.