WASHINGTON — FMCSA nominee Derek Barrs told lawmakers that his law enforcement experience will inform his leadership at the agency on a range of issues, including the Trump administration’s recent crackdown on truck drivers who lack skills in speaking and reading English.
“I have been a roadside inspector and have inspected commercial motor vehicles, and understand the difficulty it places on me as the inspector having to communicate with someone who cannot communicate with you,” Barrs testified at his nomination before the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday.
“If I want to do a full inspection of that vehicle and have to get under and check brakes, I need to be able to communicate with that driver – not only for the sake of roadway safety but for me as the inspector.
“So it’s extremely important for that driver to be able to at least have a conversation, understand the commands, and understand our road signs for safety. That’s where I believe my experience comes into this, understanding the effects on roadside inspection.”
A Florida native, Barrs, who was nominated to be FMCSA administrator in March, served as the FMCSA lead for the agency’s Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program during his time with the Florida Highway Patrol.
He is also a member of the American Trucking Associations’ Law Enforcement Advisory Board and the Florida Trucking Association.
Freight fraud and DOT retaliation
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Barrs that his state is dealing with Mexican truck drivers being issued fraudulent CDLs, coming into the U.S. and potentially operating illegally.
“Ensuring drivers are qualified and safe has got to be the utmost importance of what we’re doing with commercial vehicle safety,” Barrs responded.
“If confirmed I’m committed to addressing this particular issue, I’ve worked closely with the Texas Department of Public Safety throughout my career and understand this is concerning, and will work closely with you to make sure all drivers in our country are safe.”
Barrs also assured Cruz that he would also tackle freight and CDL fraud by continuing work to update FMCSA’s motor carrier registration system, including by requiring more thorough identity verification for driver applicants and cracking down on violators.
“This is a nationwide problem that is causing major issues within the trucking industry and the economy,” Barrs said. “I look forward to working with you on this and working with our partners to ensure bad actors are penalized or they go to jail. We can work with different agencies to make sure that can happen.”
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told Barrs she’s concerned about the potential chilling effect that a new policy being proposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation could have that would allow modal agencies to discipline their own inspectors for ruling against motor carriers in enforcement cases. She asked Barr to commit to making sure there’s “no political interference” with regard to such enforcement policies.
“Inspectors and officers working within FMCSA have a diligent job to do in making sure they can carry out the missions and place these bad actors out [of service],” Barrs said. “It’s extremely important to me that we make sure we do that.”
Autonomous vehicles and underride protection
Barrs and Jonathan Morrison, who was also questioned at the hearing on his pending nomination to be administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, were asked about how they would oversee the rollout of autonomous vehicle technology.
Barrs pledged to look into allowing warning triangles and other roadside safety devices required to be deployed manually be replaced with electronic beacons that can be deployed remotely.
The technology is considered a necessity in paving the way for autonomous trucks, but FMCSA has so far denied requests to allow such technology to be exempted from current regulations.
Morrison, who told the committee he planned to increase his agency’s engagement with industry to develop regulations on autonomous deployment, was also asked about NHTSA’s previous analysis on truck side underride guards, and the agency’s determination that the cost to install them exceeded the benefits.
“Unfortunately to reach this estimate, NHTSA makes assumptions in their analysis that excludes whole categories of preventable deaths of vulnerable road users such as bicyclists, pedestrians and motor cyclists,” said Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M.
Lujan asked if Morrison would commit to including such road users in cost benefit analyses and any future rulemakings on side underride guards.
“I will work with the economists at NHTSA and make sure everything appropriate is being considered,” Morrison responded.
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Click for more FreightWaves articles by John Gallagher.
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