Industry Lobbyist Is the Wrong Choice to Head Truck Safety Agency

This blog was authored by our colleague Clarence Ditlow, Executive Director of the Center for Auto Safety

Anne Ferro, a trucking industry lobbyist should not be the next head of the key federal agency regulating the trucking industry. President Obama nominated Ferro, President and CEO of the Maryland Motor Truck Association, the state affiliate of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), to head the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). FMCSA is the agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) responsible for regulating truck safety.
On the day of her hearing, September 23, the New York Times published an editorial calling on the Senate to reject Ms. Ferro's nomination:

President Obama made a peculiar choice in June when he nominated Anne Ferro, a major trucking industry lobbyist in Maryland, to lead the agency that oversees truck safety. On its face, Ms. Ferro's selection violates the spirit of Mr. Obama's decision to limit the ability of lobbyists to enter government as high officials and influence policy from within.

The order bars hiring anyone who lobbied an executive-branch agency within the past two years, which technically means federally registered lobbyists. But it is hard to see how naming a trucking industry insider like Ms. Ferro, the president of the Maryland affiliate of the American Trucking Associations, to lead the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration squares with Mr. Obama's promise of "a clean break" from business as usual.

The editorial went on to point out that some members of the Senate objected when President Bush appointed trucking industry insiders to the FMCSA, and argued that it is "no less wrong for Mr. Obama's (administration) to do it."

In their editorial, the New York Times concluded:

Ms. Ferro's record, we believe, is disqualifying. With more than 5,000 fatal truck crashes a year, Americans cannot afford conflicts of interest in the running of their truck safety agency.

Leading truck safety advocates, in both a statement released by the Truck Safety Coalition in a letter to the Senate Commerce Committee, agree with the New York Times in opposing Ms. Ferro's nomination. The Truck Safety Coalition is a partnership between Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH) and Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T) dedicated to reducing death and injury caused by truck-related crashes, providing compassionate support to truck crash survivors and families of truck crash victims, and educating the public, policy-makers and media about truck safety issues.

Jennifer Tierney, a board member of CRASH, stated:

Today, approximately 15 people will die in truck crashes. Yet this administration nominee is a trucking industry insider and lobbyist. The New York Times got it right; she would regulate the very industry she has advocated for. This is the perfect example of the fox guarding the hen house.

Daphne Izer, founder of P.A.T.T., pointed out that:

Safety has been on the back burner for too many years, resulting in thousands upon thousands of needless deaths and injuries. I want safety put before profits. Even the Bush Administration wouldn't have had the gall to make this move.

During the next four years the FMCSA Administrator will be involved in critical life and death decisions affecting motor carrier and motor coach safety. The individual appointed to this agency should not come from the very industry the agency is required to regulate, especially given the trucking industry's obstructionist positions on commonsense health and safety issues.

The FMCSA needs a leader and the public deserves an Administrator who is an avowed and proven safety advocate without industry conflicts. Someone who will take action on lifesaving policies that genuinely advance the health and safety of truck drivers and the American people.

Comments

[Dawn Badger King]

to continue...

Mr. Boyce also inaccurately portrays the Truck Safety Coalition’s position on speed governors. We support a regulation requiring that they be set at 65 mph or below, and we have worked with Road Safe America on this measure. We have not refused to work with the ATA to advance measures that have been proven to advance safety and we look forward to continuing to work together to make the roads safer.

Lastly, Mr. Boyce’s assertion that 75% of truck crashes are caused by passenger cars has never been proven. This false claim is predicated on a deliberate misreading of studies that relied on descriptive “driver factor codes” reported by police at the crash scene and tabulated in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System. These codes are after-the-fact notations often based on speculative information, as acknowledged by the U.S. DOT, and are not the product of in-depth crash investigations to accurately determine contributing factors that led to a particular crash. The authors of the 2002 AAA Foundation study, “Identifying Unsafe Driver Actions That Lead to Fatal Car-Truck Crashes” disclaimed any causal connection between reported driver actions and crash outcomes.

It is our hope that the next head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is someone who does “know trucking,” and is a proven safety advocate without industry conflicts and shared views and who will take action on lifesaving policies that genuinely advance the health and safety of truck drivers and the American people.

[Dawn Badger King]

The purpose of the initial article regarding the nomination of Anne Ferro has been lost in the ensuing attack by Mr. Boyce on the Truck Safety Coalition. Our objection to Ms. Ferro’s nomination is not that she is “someone who knows trucking” as he wrote, but rather that she is a paid lobbyist for the trucking industry and has been nominated to lead the federal agency responsible for regulating that very industry. We are additionally greatly concerned that during Ms. Ferro’s Senate nomination hearing she did not commit to taking action on long-overdue safety regulations.

As a volunteer for the Truck Safety Coalition, I take exception to a number of Mr. Boyce’s comments. The Truck Safety Coalition’s sole objective is to reduce the number of truck-related deaths and injuries on our nation’s roads. The Coalition is comprised of people who have lost loved ones in truck crashes and truck crash survivors and are dedicated to preventing others from having to go through what we have been forced to endure. We have no ulterior motive, we are not affiliated with the railroads, and in fact we are not “anti-truck.” We simply want to reduce the nearly 5,000 deaths, which includes approximately 750 truck drivers, that are caused by truck crashes each year. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in its “Traffic Safety Facts 2008,” “One out of nine traffic fatalities resulted from a collision involving a large truck.”

[CBoyce ATA]

The modern-day trucking company is a blend of the new and the old. New equipment, safety features and regulations combined with old-fashioned concern for the safety of our drivers and all highway users. One thing that trucking industry critics won't talk about is the fact that most car-truck crashes are not the truck driver's fault. Scientific research by Virginia Tech and the American Automobile Association's safety foundation has shown that about 75 percent of all car-truck crashes are caused by the car driver. That is why, in addition to making our trucks and drivers safer, ATA educates thousands of high school students and members of the general public how to drive around trucks in a safe way. That's just one way that the trucking industry makes your highways safer every day. And you know, I find it very curious that those who say that someone who knows trucking should not be involved in regulating it had no objections to the appointments of a pilot to run the Federal Aviation Administration, or representatives of railroad interest groups to run the Federal Railroad Administration and the Surface Transportation Board.

[CBoyce ATA]

The modern-day trucking company is a blend of the new and the old. New equipment, safety features and regulations combined with old-fashioned concern for the safety of our drivers and all highway users. One thing that trucking industry critics won't talk about is the fact that most car-truck crashes are not the truck driver's fault. Scientific research by Virginia Tech and the American Automobile Association's safety foundation has shown that about 75 percent of all car-truck crashes are caused by the car driver. That is why, in addition to making our trucks and drivers safer, ATA educates thousands of high school students and members of the general public about how to drive around trucks in a safe way. That's just one way that the trucking industry makes your highways safer. And you know, I find it very curious that those who say that someone who knows trucking should not be involved in regulating it had no objections to the appointments of a pilot to run the Federal Aviation Administration, or representatives of railroad interest groups to run the Federal Railroad Administration and the Surface Transportation Board.

[CBoyce ATA]

"Safety groups" like CRASH met with the ATA this year and were asked to help promote regulatory reform that will greatly improve truck and highway safety. These groups refused to help, even with part of our agenda. You would think that they would at least support our request that the federal government require that all trucks have their speed governors set at 65 mph or below, so that on many interstates trucks could not exceed the speed limit. Or our proposals to crack down further on DUI and in testing truck drivers for use of alcohol or drugs. Or ATA's demand for wider use of speed limit enforcement and red light running enforcement cameras. Those groups said no, but real safety experts said YES. Road Safe America Executive Director Tom Hodgson said, “We admire the fact that many members of the ATA are among the most safety-conscious corporate citizens in America. Road Safe America is proud to throw its support behind these commonsense, cost-effective, straightforward safety rules as proposed by the ATA.” The American Insurance Association and John Hill, a former Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator and a former state police commander also applauded ATA’s leadership on highway safety. "If enacted, ATA’s measures will reduce fatalities, injuries and economic costs for everyone sharing our highways,” said AIA Vice President David Snyder. These groups did not agree with all 18 points of ATA's safety agenda, but they saw the wisdom in supporting much of the program.

[CBoyce ATA]

The trucking industry, but for a small number of rogue operators, always puts safety before profit. Check out the industry's aggressive 18-point safety agenda at www.truckline.com/safety. The American Trucking Associations and the 50 state trucking associations have already accomplished more to improve trucking safety than groups like CRASH, the Truck Safety Coalition and PATT ever will, as long as they mindlessly criticize anyone who is knowledgeable about the trucking industry. Groups like CRASH have an alternative agenda: CRASH was started and funded by railroad interests to harass their competitors, the trucking industry. It is foolish to endorse the New York Times editorial, which was filled with errors. In the last few weeks the Times has printed two corrections about its trucking coverage, and more should come. The Times' coverage reflects the very mistaken premise of groups like CRASH that trucks are unsafe and getting more dangerous. The facts are that by every measure that the US Department of Transportation keeps, trucking is safer than it has ever been, and the number and rate of truck-involved crashes, deaths and injuries continues to steadily decline. The death figures cited by The Times are grossly inaccurate. Despite the fact that the number of miles driven annually by trucks has increased substantially, the number of truck-involved deaths has declined sharply. It has not been at the level that The Times suggested in 29 years. Ms. Tierney's comment further exaggerates that number to baselessly attack trucking.