Stuart Kessler (pictured), VW Group of America’s Houston port manager, will retire at the end of July after 38 years with the company.

He spent the last 23 years in his role at the Houston port, where he managed all vehicle logistics functions and was responsible among other things for ensuring vehicle quality and safety standards were met.

He will be replaced as Houston port manager by Elliott Hughes, who was previously assistant business manager at O’Rourke Marine Services, responsible for strategic planning and fuel delivery scheduling by truck and barge. Prior to that, Hughes was the assistant operations manager for APM Terminals in La Porte, Texas.

Hughes, who holds a maritime administration degree from Texas A&M, reports to Heather Gilhuly, senior manager of port operations and metrics at the group.