Board of Directors

Michael Riggs is the CEO and President of Jack Cooper Investments, Inc. Mr. Riggs acquired the company in 2009. Under his leadership, Jack Cooper has grown to become one of the largest car haul companies in North America with over 3,000 employees. He has over 20 years of experience in the trucking industry, and another 20 years of prior executive experience within manufacturing companies. Mr. Riggs is a member of the Executive Committee of the American Trucking Association, and is Chairman of the Auto Carriers Conference. In 2013, Ernst & Young awarded Mr. Riggs the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Midwest Region. He was also awarded the Global Outstanding Achievement Award by Automotive Supply Chain Magazine. He received a BS in Business from the General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He and his wife of 40 years have three daughters and six grandchildren.

Tom Higbie is a Managing Director at Solus Alternative Asset Management LP. He joined the firm in 2012 and is currently responsible for public and private investments in the transportation sector. Prior to joining Solus Mr. Higbie was a Vice President at Deutsche Bank where he worked from 2006-2012. Mr. Higbie is a CFA® charterholder and earned a BBA from the Ross Michigan School of Business.

Gary Kowalski joined the Board of Directors for Jack Cooper Investments, Inc. in 2019. Prior to joining our board, Gary D. Kowalski served as senior vice president and chief operating officer of Menlo Worldwide Logistics, LLC, a $1.6 billion global provider of logistics, transportation management and supply chain services. Menlo Worldwide Logistics, LLC is a subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE:CNW), a $5.5 billion freight transportation and logistics services company headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich. Con-way delivers industry-leading services through its primary operating companies of Con-way Freight, Menlo Worldwide Logistics and Con-way Truckload. These operating units provide high-performance, day-definite less-than-truckload (LTL), full truckload and intermodal freight transportation; as well as logistics, warehousing and supply chain management services; and trailer manufacturing. Con-way Inc. and its subsidiaries operate from more than 425 locations across North America and in 20 countries across five continents.

Mr. Kowalski also previously served as chief operating officer of the Menlo Automotive Group (MAG), a division of Menlo Worldwide Logistics that focuses on the special supply chain and logistics needs of the global automotive industry. An executive with more than 30 years of experience in logistics and manufacturing management, Mr. Kowalski previously served as president and chief executive officer of Vector SCM, a joint venture between General Motors (GM) and Menlo Worldwide Logistics that served as GM’s lead logistics manager worldwide. He had held that position since the company’s formation in 2000.

Before Vector SCM, Mr. Kowalski served as vice president of Emery Worldwide, CNF’s former global heavyweight air cargo subsidiary. In that capacity, he led the startup of the company’s priority mail operations under contract with the U.S. Postal Service and was responsible for the planning, implementation and operations of the project’s 10 priority mail processing centers. He also served as Emery Worldwide’s vice president, strategic planning and quality in charge of the company’s internal logistics and responsible for monitoring on-time delivery performance, evaluating air routing and commercial airline cargo space purchases, and implementing ISO 9002 certification criteria for Emery’s operations worldwide.

Before joining Emery, Mr. Kowalski was an executive at GM in Michigan. In that capacity, he was responsible for overseeing logistics activities for all of the company’s North American supply chain operations. He also held management positions at GM in quality, materials, manufacturing, international sales, business development and business planning.

Mr. Kowalski is a native of Rochester, New York; he holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting from the Rochester Institute of Technology and an MBA from the William E. Simon School at the University of Rochester.