Anne Ferro starts work this week as the new administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, following her swearing-in late last week. She will oversee an agency dealing with an unprecedented number of critical trucking issues, including another revisit of hours of service rules -- rules she defended as president of the Maryland Motor Truck Association.

During the confirmation process, Ferro was opposed by the Teamsters union and the safety advocacy community. But she has broad support from the national safety community, which cites her record as an effective chief of the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration before she was named to the MMTA post. 

Former FMCSA Administrator John Hill, who now is a truck safety consultant, says when he was administrator, he served with Ferro on the board that oversees the commercial driver's license information system.

"We had to make very hard decisions on that board, and she was up to the task," he says. "She's very committed to safety."

Ferro's experience as a motor vehicle administrator and a trucking representative gives her valuable background, Hill adds. 

"She has knowledge of the safety components -- and she understands the industry part. A lot of times you get one or the other. But she comes in knowing both sides, and I think that's really important when you're regulating people."

Ferro is the fourth full-fledged FMCSA chief since the agency was created in 2000.

HOS Grilling

During her confirmation hearing, Ferro ran into some tough questioning from Democratic New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, especially on hours of service. Lautenberg said he believes the agency is "in dire need of reform" and was concerned about Ferro's ties to the trucking industry, because of Ferro's most recent position as president and CEO of the Maryland Motor Truck Association.

Lautenberg asked Ferro about a letter to the editor of the Baltimore Sun that Ferro co-authored last January, in which she and Barbara Windsor, president and CEO of Hahn Transportation, defended the current hours rule.

In their letter, Ferro and Hahn said that the Sun's editorial against the rule failed to note that the current rule reduces the hours drivers are allowed to work each day, and increases the hours of rest required. The additional hour of driving time that the rules permit falls within a shorter total workday, they said. 

In response to Lautenberg's question, Ferro said that she is committed to reviewing the current rule and making changes if improvements are possible. 

"This committee has my strongest commitment to advance measures that achieve safety gains and address driver health and wellness issues," she said.

Subsequent to the hearing, at about the same time the Commerce Committee approved Ferro's nomination, DOT announced that it had decided to revise the hours of service rules. 

This was the product of an agreement between DOT and the opponents of the current hours of service rules who also opposed Ferro's nomination. In the agreement, Public Citizen and the Teamsters union suspended their suit against the hours of service rule pending the outcome of DOT's revision.

DOT will draft a new proposed rule within nine months and publish a final rule within 21 months. (See "Hours of Service Regulations Being Reviewed Again," 10/28/09.)

Ferro Faces Jam-Packed Agenda at FMCSA

As if the hours of service rewrite isn't enough, Ferro takes the helm at a time when the safety agency has a jam-packed agenda. 

For instance, a long-delayed final rule that will likely require electronic onboard recorders for some carriers has been waiting to go to the White House for approval. It is expected to be published early next year.

The biggest regulatory item coming out of FMCSA next year will be a strategic change in the way the agency enforces its safety rules. For years, the agency's enforcement regime has been built around the Compliance Review, a detailed analysis of a carrier's safety performance and management plan that requires an on-site visit by an inspector. This process is thorough, but takes a lot of time and resources and touches only a small number of carriers. 

For several years now the agency has been working on a new approach called Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010.

Under CSA 2010, the agency's determination of a carrier's safety fitness will be independent of the Compliance Review. Fitness ratings will be based on performance information such as traffic, hours of service or license violations; improper maintenance, or a pattern of frequent accidents. 

This is a major undertaking that has the close attention of the trucking industry,

FMCSA also is considering tougher requirements for new entrants to the business. The agency is looking for comments on how best to ensure that a new applicant knows the safety system. A key question is whether or not the agency should require a proficiency exam as part of New Entrant Safety Assurance Process. 

How Trucking Economics Affect Safety

In her confirmation hearing, Ferro brought up a perspective that is not traditionally a part of such hearings: the influence of the economics of the business on safety.

It has been difficult to improve safety in a multi-sector industry "where segments of it have such low barriers to entry that competition for business is sometimes characterized as a race to the bottom," she said in her opening statement.

"Whoever leads this agency must foster frank discussions about the fundamentals in the freight supply chain and motor coach industries that encourage participants to push the limits and put the driving public and other commercial drivers at risk," she said. 

"Uncompensated time, compensation by the mile or load, professional drivers classified as laborers - these are all aspects of a supply-chain model that rewards squeezing transportation costs out of the equation; factors that shift the cost onto the driving public and professional driver."

Such issues do not come under FMCSA's regulatory umbrella, but Ferro sees a leadership role for the administrator.

"The administrator must take the lead in raising questions and opening up the discussion if we are to realize a commercial vehicle industry where the safest drivers and safest motor carriers are the most competitive, not the other way around."