Mead Urges Congress to Take 'Hammer' in Reforming Safety
estifying at a March 18 House Ground Transportation Subcommittee hearing, inspector general Kenneth Mead said tougher enforcement by the Federal Highway Administration’s Motor Carrier and Highway Safety business unit is needed.
“You need to use the hammer approach,” he said.
FHWA’s effort to improve safety by stressing education and other collaborative programs with trucking is not working, according to Mead.
Phyllis Scheinberg, associate director of the General Accounting Office, also spoke to the panel, calling for greater emphasis on truck safety within FHWA.
Both Scheinberg and Mead criticized FHWA for what they see as the “slow pace” of the agency work on regulatory reform, such as an update of hours of service.
Echoing the theme sounded by those who want to transfer trucking oversight to another agency, Mead said he was concerned that motor carrier safety is subordinate to FHWA’s primary mission of building highways. He also said government needs to maintain an arm’s-length relationship with trucking.
In addition, he said control could be improved by having strong leadership at Motor Carrier and the Highway Safety, the new title for the Office of Motor Carriers.
FHWA associate administrator George Reagle was removed as head of OMC earlier this year after he urged trucking interests to lobby Congress against transferring the office to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Reagle, who was named an assistant to FHWA Administrator Kenneth Wykle, is expected to retire soon, sources said.
Last week, FHWA denied that Wykle planned to leave the agency. “That’s bad information,” FHWA spokesman Virginia Miller said.
Representatives of trucking interests and safety advocacy groups are scheduled to testify March 25 before the same subcommittee. A hearing on bus safety is also planned.
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