Is This Any Way to Run DOT?

It’s beginning to look like we have a new secretary of transportation, by the name of Joan Claybrook. No, she wasn’t nominated by the president or confirmed by the Senate, but she seems to wield the big stick in transport circles along the Potomac these days.

From all appearances, Rodney Slater, who at least still holds the title of secretary of transportation, ordered the Federal Highway Administration to cancel its planned 1998 National Truck and Bus Safety Summit after Ms. Claybrook complained that the bully truckers were refusing to share their candy with her.

In a letter to the Washington Post published Nov. 20, she said that the upcoming summit would be “stacked with industry lobbyists and mouthpieces as the key participants and with only token consumer and victim representation.”

The summit, organized by FHWA’s Office of Motor Carriers, was to begin Dec. 6, and many industry officials had made plans to be in Atlanta to discuss ways to improve carrier safety.

But Claybrook’s letter, coupled with complaints from some other “safety advocates,” sent the 10th floor, where the secretary’s office is located, into a tizzy. Three days after Ms. Claybrook’s letter, the safety summit was dead.

FHWA put out a news release Nov. 23 saying it was withdrawing its support for the meeting because its “efforts have not yet resulted in the broad representation to which we are committed.” The agency refused to discuss its decision beyond the statement.

So the Department of Transportation has decided that the best way to work to improve safety on our highways is by not talking with the trucking and bus industries and representatives of government agencies and safety groups.

John McQuaid of the National Private Truck Council said it best: “This shows a lack of political will on the part of DOT. . . . They have politicized something that shouldn’t have been politicized and their credibility has been severely diminished.”

Maybe Ms. Claybrook can write a response for Mr. Slater. Stay tuned.