Editorial: Finally, a Nominee
This Editorial appears in the Aug. 10 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
President Obama’s nomination of Scott Darling to head the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration now makes official what has long been suspected.
When Anne Ferro left the administrator’s job at FMCSA after five years, Obama and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx bypassed then-Deputy Administrator William Bronrott and tapped Darling, the agency’s chief counsel, to lead on an acting basis.
Seven months later, there was no nomination of a permanent administrator, so by law, Darling’s acting status lapsed in March.
If the president did not want to go through a formal nomination because the person could languish in Senate parliamentary squabbling, it is easy to understand the feeling. Ultimately, however, we have to agree with Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who said earlier this year the administration should pick up the pace on DOT nominations, including someone for FMCSA.
Sometime this fall, Darling is expected to sit before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, where Thune is chairman, and talk about truck safety.
We have not endorsed a majority of FMCSA’s major decisions during this administration, but safety is a tremendously important and underappreciated subject that is worthy of public debate. FMCSA deserves a permanent administrator with the explicit backing of the president.
We are eager for the Darling hearings to begin and expect questions on electronic logging devices, hours of service, cross-border trucking, 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 — and maybe more.
Thus far, people have praised Darling as a quiet, intelligent and diligent man. All fine qualities, but we hope he will also bring some of Ferro’s sensibility to the job.
Though we may not have approved of some things Ferro did at FMCSA, including the public rollout of CSA, it was impossible not to like and admire her cheerful entry into the fray and her willingness to engage with anyone at any time on truck safety.
John Hill, who preceded Ferro, said Darling should 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.”
Sounds like wise advice.
