Our Team
Executive
Howard Wallace |
Chairman of the Board
Howard first started working at Los Angeles Harbor Grain Terminal in the 1960’s as a teenager. He spent those Summers alongside his father learning about the various conveying equipment, operations and administration of the fledgling bulk vessel loading business.
In 1970 he graduated with a BS in Engineering from California State College Long Beach and joined the family business full time. As Howard was being introduced to the shipping industry, so were ocean containers. Throughout the 1970’s and 80’s, Howard transformed the business from a bulk loading operation into the premier agricultural transload operation it is today.
Howard has been married for more than 50 years, and has been blessed with three children, seven grandchildren, and one great granddaughter.
Dwight Robinson |
President/CEO
Dwight Robinson joined Los Angeles Harbor Grain Terminal in 2005 ushering in a third generation of family management of the business. Previously, he had held positions in Sales & Marketing, Customer Service, and Media Relations & Public Affairs for publicly traded and privately held businesses in the consumer products and internet industries.
During his tenure, Dwight has helped expand the customer base, grow the management team, create new operational efficiencies, and bring trucking operations in-house.
Dwight attended Westmont College where he majored in Political Science. In addition to managing the business, Dwight served eight years as an elected Councilmember and Mayor of Lake Forest, California. He served four years as an elected member of the South Coast Air Quality Management District setting policy and regulations for the 17 million residents in its jurisdiction.
Dwight has been married for more than 20 years, is the father of 3 children, and the dog father of two.
drobinson@lahgt.com
562-595-7559
Martin Zabala | Vice President
of Operations
Martin Zabala has worked with the Los Angeles Harbor Grain Terminal since 2010. He is responsible for the daily operations of the production and trucking aspects of the business. Previously, Martin worked for a large consumer products manufacturer where he oversaw production of their more than 5,000 SKUs of metallurgical and leather goods.
He has been instrumental in developing operation efficiency processes, enhancing and maintaining our safety programs, designing our container stacking and storage capabilities, and improving our inventory control measures.
Martin served 6 years in the United States Army and has a Degree in Criminal Justice. He is a family man with 2 girls and 2 boys. In his spare time, he enjoys restoring classic cars and home remodeling.
martin@lahgt.com
(562) 595-7559 Ext 260
Executive Assistants
Marc Heins |
Executive Assistant/Customer Service
As an Executive Assistant, Marc supports Dwight on a project by project basis to improve the business productivity, growth and efficiency. When called upon, he also fills in for other departments. He has been with L.A. Grain for a combined total of 7+ years.
Marc has operated a finance business for 15 years and was a real estate market analyst for 10 years at IHP Capital Partners. He has a Masters in Business Administration from Chapman University.
An active, healthy lifestyle is Marc’s goal. He enjoys both traveling to new places and exploring the outdoors. This includes hiking, backpacking, 4 wheeling and caving. Marc is the father of 2 boys and 2 girls.
marc@lahgt.com
562-595-7559 Ext 267
Vanessa Nunez |
Assistant to the Director of Operations
Vanessa Nunez has been at LA Harbor Grain since 2019 and is new to the transportation business.
She grew up in the Wilmington/Los Angeles Harbor area and has two daughters that keep her busy. For hobbies, she likes going to the beach and hiking.
vanessa@lahgt.com
(562) 595-7559 Ext 259
Operations
Benjamin Agular
| Night Transportation Supervisor
Ben has been with L.A. Grain since 2015 and has worked in the transportation business for about 14 years.
Benjamin is a father of 2 kids and lives in Orange County. He enjoys spending time with his family and likes to take long bike rides. He also likes soccer and baseball.
benjamin@lahgt.com
(562) 595-7559 Ext 263
Ray Zabala
| Hay Operations Supervisor
Ray has worked at L.A. Grain since 2018. He has 20 plus years experience working as a supervisor. He has worked with quality control, warehousing and restoration and is an HVAC Tech Grad from Brownson Technical School.
Ray is a family man who spends his time off fishing with his kids.
ray@lahgt.com
(562) 595-7559 Ext 228
Frank Gutierrez |
Production Supervisor
Frank is L.A. Grain grown and trained. He started working at L.A. Grain in 2014 and has learned every position production has to offer. Now in middle management, he focuses on passing on his knowledge and emphasizes on teamwork to get the production out in a safe and timely manner.
On his free time, he likes to work out in his home gym, run hills, and hike. A quote he likes to say is “I’m always up for the challenge.”
frankie@lahgt.com
(562) 595-7559 Ext 266
Customer Service
Peter Robinson |
Customer Service
Peter has been with L.A. Grain for over 12 years, starting out in operations, and transitioning over to Customer service since 2016.
He enjoys watching his 12-year-old daughter play soccer on the weekends, and his 2-year-old son start to find his niche in sports. On his free time, he enjoys doing yard work and watching Michigan sports.
peter@lahgt.com
562-595-7559 Ext 232
Cell 562-544-7926
David Stone |
Bookings & Docs
David has worked at LAHGT since 2006. In that time he's worn many hats; Forwarder, Dispatcher, Customer Service, Documentation, even bagging haycubes in a pinch.
He has a Bachelor of Science in Zoology: Terrestrial Biology from California State University Long Beach.
dave@lahgt.com
(562) 595-7559 Ext 222
Marisela Castaneda |
Customer Service
From 2010 to 2015 Marisela worked the front desk at L.A. Grain. Then, an opportunity to work at Hellmann Logistics as a customer service representative arose, but eventually they moved out of state. At the same time, (2016) a customer service representative position opened up at L.A. Grain and she has been there ever since, for a combined total of 10+ years.
Mother of 3 children, Marisela ideally likes to spend her weekends at the car show with her family. She loves to go traveling or bungie jumping.
mcastaneda@lahgt.com
562-595-7559 Ext 230
Melissa Robinson | Street Turn Manager &
Per Diem Manager
Melissa started working for L.A. Grain in 2016. She was hired to grow and run the street turn division of the company—a division that has long been part of the plan of L.A. Grain to aid in doing their part in reducing congestion and emissions in the Ports of Long Beach/Los Angeles.
Due to the connections made with importers throughout Long Beach/Los Angeles, L.A Grain currently gets nearly fifty percent of its empties through street turns.
Once she started working for L.A. Grain, Melissa also started handling the per diem department as well. Prior to starting at L.A. Grain, she worked in varying administrative positions ranging within corporate settings and non profit organizations.
Traffic & Dispatch
Mario Velasquez |
Transportation Manager
Mario has been dispatching in the trucking industry for 12 years and managing for more than 4 years. He has been with L.A. Grain since 2013.
Mario lives in Los Angeles County and has 2 beautiful baby girls and 1 handsome boy. In his spare time, he enjoys working on cars.
mario@lahgt.com
562-595-7559 Ext 257
Rod Godinez |
Dispatcher
Rod has 8 years of port dispatching experience and has been with L.A. Grain since 2018. He graduated from High school in 2002 and finished an auto mechanic course In college for 2 years.
Rod Godinez is a family man with 1 boy and 1 girl. He grew up in Torrance California and now resides in Wilmington, CA.
rod@lahgt.com
(562) 595-7559 Ext 258
Accounting
Human Resources
Tracey Bland |
Bookkeeper
Tracey Bland has worked her entire career as a bookkeeper for small family owned businesses and has worked with L.A. Grain since 2014. She particularly enjoys the camaraderie, shared goals and sense of making a difference at work.
In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with and visiting family and friends. She is a vocalist and lover of Broadway Musicals.
Tracey@lahgt.com
562-595-7559 Ext 234
Daisy Aguilar |
Human Resources
Daisy has been a part of the L.A. Grain team since 2015. She has over 12 years of Human Resources experience and over 17 years of administrative experience.
Daisy was born and raised in Los Angeles County and has been married for 10+ years. She has one son and two daughters and is a proud softball mom. During her time away from work, she spends her days at the ballpark.
daisy@lahgt.com
562-595-7559 Ext 221