Rulemakings Loom Large in FMCSA’s Short History
This story appears in the Aug. 4 print edition of Transport Topics.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will be 15 years old in January — not long in the life of a government agency.
That may explain in part why the five-year tenure of Administrator Anne Ferro, marked by a flurry of rulemaking, looms large in the agency’s and trucking history. Ferro announced her resignation July 25.
“Organizations have developmental periods,” said John Hill, administrator from 2006 to 2009.
During his tenure, Hill said, he was “trying to stabilize the internal structures to make sure that we had the people and the organization in place to do the things that Congress was asking.
TIMELINE: A look back at Ferro's tenure
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LAST WORDS TO SENATE: Don't change HOS restart
Hill followed Annette Sandberg, who served from 2003 to 2006 after two short-term chiefs.
“The second thing was we were trying to stand up a new enforcement model, CSA,” Hill said.
Like so much of what FMCSA tackled the past five years, the development of the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program stretches back years.
“It started in thought with Annette, I really expanded it and, then, Anne has been the one to implement it,” Hill said.
Going forward, FMCSA’s agenda depends on Congress and the White House.
“It’s always difficult when you change administrators in midstream and there’s still a body of work to be done, and our concern is this is going to slow down the pace of work,” said Henry Jasny, chief counsel for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
“There’s a lot of things that aren’t finished,” said Steve Keppler, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.
Among the ongoing issues for the agency are CSA, hours of service and the rule on electronic logging devices, which is not yet finalized, Keppler said.
Congress also is looking at the detention time issue, and the White House is talking about new driver compensation plans, Keppler added.
