Darling Nominated to Run FMCSA
President Obama has nominated Scott Darling to become the fifth permanent head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx confirmed the nomination of Darling, who is currently FMCSA chief counsel and also served as acting administrator, in an Aug. 5 statement.
“Through strong and effective management as chief counsel and acting administrator of FMCSA, Scott has already demonstrated his ability to lead the agency. He is committed to making our roads safer for motorists, passengers and professional truck and bus drivers, and is constantly working with all sides to find solutions to challenges facing the industry and the motoring public,” Foxx said.
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Darling will succeed Anne Ferro, who was administrator from November 2009 to August 2014. When Ferro stepped down to lead the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, the Obama administration selected Darling to lead FMCSA ahead of then-Deputy Administrator William Bronrott.
“Scott is a great nominee for this post. He’s a seasoned leader who knows the issues and has a strong track record of reaching out to all stakeholders,” Ferro said in reaction to Darling’s nomination.
Darling’s formal tenure as acting administrator expired in March, in accordance with federal law. In February, the agency gained a new deputy administrator, DOT official Daphne Jefferson.
An aide to Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said Darling’s nomination papers were formally delivered to the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Aug. 5. That is the panel with authority to conduct hearings on Darling’s nomination.
Thune is the committee’s chairman, and Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida is the ranking Democrat. Thune has been publicly critical of the administration’s slowness in replacing Ferro.
“We congratulate Scott on his nomination to this critical position, and we look forward to continuing to work with him to improve truck and highway safety,” said American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves.
“We look forward to continuing to work with Administrator Scott Darling,” said Jim Johnston, president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. “We have found him to be open and receptive to input from the association,
and he appears to appreciate the role of professional truckers.”
OOIDA said it is pleased with the recent progress made on entry-level driver training, “an issue that had previously been stagnant for many years.”
Darling has been the agency’s top lawyer since 2012. Before that, he worked for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
He may make his first public address as the nominee on Aug. 13 in St. Louis, where he has been scheduled to address participants in the National Truck Driving Championships.
Among the issues that will concern Darling as administrator are electronic logging devices, hours of service, cross-border trucking with Mexico, standards for entry-level driver training, a clearinghouse for drug and alcohol driver reports, raising mandatory insurance minimums for trucking companies, mandatory use of engine speed governors and the scoring system for the agency’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program.
State law enforcement officials welcomed the nomination.
“We are glad to see the administration moving forward with a permanent nomination. We have worked with [Darling] for several years in his varied roles at FMCSA and found him to be very committed to safety and supportive of the states and enforcement,” said Stephen Keppler, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.
“There are a number of significant issues on the table that need to be addressed, and we look forward to working together with him,” Keppler added.
Not including acting agency chiefs, the first three administrators of FMCSA were all nominated by George W. Bush: Joe Clapp, 2001-2002; Annette Sandberg, 2003-2006; and John Hill, 2006-2009. Ferro, an Obama appointee, succeeded Hill.
Until the 1990s, truck safety was handled by the Office of Motor Carriers, a part of the Federal Highway Administration. In 1999, Congress authorized the creation of FMCSA with a formal starting date of Jan. 1, 2000.
Prior to Clapp’s confirmation by the Senate in October 2001, FMCSA had two acting administrators, Julie Cirillo and Clyde Hart.
“I would just wish [Darling] well — it is a very tough job,” said Sandberg, now an industry consultant.
Hill, a deputy chief of staff for Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, offered a suggestion to Darling, whom he said he does not know.
“I would encourage [Darling] to spend lots of time listening to safety advocates, trucking and bus industry leaders and law enforcement officials. All of these groups have different priorities, but they are all committed to safety, so finding that common theme and aligning priorities which save lives is the most important function for the agency,” Hill said.
FMCSA regulates so many different kinds of trucking and bus companies, Hill said, that it makes it difficult to write rules.
“The motor carrier industry is so diverse and extensive that finding regulatory solutions can be daunting. Freight projections indicate that the trucking industry will only grow in the coming years, thus further illustrating the vital importance of strong leadership for FMCSA,” Hill said.
