The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced the appointment of a new chairman, vice chairman and five additional members to its Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee.

Stephen C. Owings is the first representative from the safety advocacy community to be named chairman of the MCSAC. Owings and his wife, Susan, founded Road Safe America in 2003 in honor of their son, Cullum, who was tragically killed in 2002 when struck by a tractor-trailer.

Owings replaces David Parker of Great West Casualty Co. as chairman. Parker has served as MCSAC chairman since its inception in 2007. 

Lt. Col. Scott G. Hernandez of the Colorado State Patrol was appointed vice chairman. Hernandez is the interim chief of the Colorado State Patrol and will become MCSAC chairman upon the conclusion of Owings’s two-year term.

Established by Congress in 2006, the MCSAC is charged with providing information, advice and recommendations to FMCSA on safety programs and regulations for large trucks and commercial buses. The MCSAC is composed of stakeholders from the motor carrier safety advocacy, safety enforcement, labor and industry communities.

The five new MCSAC members who will begin their terms on April 1, 2013, are:  

• Gary Catapano, senior vice president of safety, First Student Inc.

• Bruce Hamilton, president, Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1700

• Robert Mills, police officer, Fort Worth, Texas, Police Department

• Donald Osterberg, senior vice president of safety and security, Schneider National Inc.

• Tami Friedrich Trakh, board member, Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways

• Jennifer Tierney, board member, CRASH, (Voting Alternate Member)

Additionally, Administrator Anne Ferro reappointed ten members to the committee. They are:

• LaMont Byrd, director of health and safety, International Brotherhood of Teamsters

• Norman (Bill) Dofflemyer, captain, Maryland State Police

• Scott Hernandez, interim chief, Colorado State Patrol

• John Lannen, executive director, Truck Safety Coalition

• Jane Mathis, member, board of directors, Parents Against Tired Truckers (P.A.T.T.)

• Stephen C. Owings, president, Road Safe America

• Pete Pantuso, president and chief executive officer, American Bus Association

• David Parker, senior legal counsel, Great West Casualty Co.

• Danny Schnautz, operations manager, Clark Freight Lines, Inc.

• Todd Spencer, executive vice president, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association

With these appointments, the committee now has its full complement of 20 members.