Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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14 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2015 JOURNAL NEWS Darling nominated as full-time FMCSA administrator NTSB blames truck operator's lack of sleep in Morgan crash P resident Obama last month nomi- nated T.F. Scott Darling to become the next administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a position he's filled on an acting basis since former Administrator Anne Ferro's departure last August. Darling, chief counsel of FMCSA, served as acting administrator of the agency for seven months until March 30 when U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx removed the title but asked Darling to continue running the agency. For Darling to officially become head of the agency, his nomination still must be confirmed by the Senate, which took a four-week recess in August and was unlikely to take up Darling's nomination vote until after it returned to work this month. "Through strong and effective man- agement as chief counsel and acting administrator of FMCSA, Scott has already demonstrated his ability to lead the agency," Foxx said. "He is com- mitted to making our roads safer for motorists, passengers and professional truck and bus drivers, and is constantly working with all sides to find solutions to challenges facing the industry and the motoring public. As administrator, FMCSA will continue to benefit from his years of leadership and experience working in the transportation sector. I look forward to our continued work together." Both the American Trucking Associations and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association expressed support for Darling's nomi- nation. "We congratulate Scott on his nomination to this critical position, and we look forward to continuing to work with him to improve truck and highway safety," said Bill Graves, ATA president and chief executive officer. OOIDA cited entry-level driver train- ing as an area where it and Darling already have "made significant prog- ress" and said it hopes Darling will take up issues such as detention time and driver pay reform. "We look forward to continuing to work with Administrator Scott Darling," said Jim Johnston, OOIDA president and CEO. "We have found him to be open and receptive to input from the association, and he appears to appreciate the role of profes- sional truckers. – James Jaillet T he root cause of the fatal June 2014 crash involving a Walmart tractor-trailer and actor Tracy Morgan was a tired truck operator, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded following its yearlong investigation. Truck driver Kevin Roper, who has been charged with vehicular homicide in the case, had slept just four hours in the 33 hours preceding the crash, NTSB said. The crash, which severely injured Morgan and others and killed come- dian James McNair, sparked a firestorm of debate over truck operators' hours- of-service limits last summer and nearly derailed attempts by Congress to roll back some 2013-implemented rules governing the use of a driver's 34-hour restart. But as NTSB noted in its Aug. 11 report, hours-of-service limits "do not address off-duty choices," echoing the sentiment expressed last year by the American Trucking Associations fol- lowing the crash and the debate sur- rounding it. According to an NTSB animation of the crash released with last month's report, Roper was traveling about 20 mph over the posted 45 mph speed limit – a reduced limit due to construc- tion. Traffic was moving at about 10 mph when Roper approached, and he was traveling roughly 65 mph when he came upon the Mercedes limo van in which McNair, Morgan and others were riding. Factors pointing to Roper's fatigue, NTSB said, include not slowing down to the reduced 45 mph limit and failing to react to the slower traffic ahead of him. He only began to brake about 200 feet before impact, the board said. Contributing to Roper's fatigue was the long commute he made the night before in his personal car, driving about 800 miles from Georgia to Delaware to begin his on-duty driving period. Since the crash, Walmart has settled civil suits with McNair's family and Morgan. – James Jaillet T.F. Scott Darling has overseen FMCSA since former Administrator Anne Ferro's departure last August. Truck driver Kevin Roper had slept just four hours in the 33 hours preceding the crash that injured actor Tracy Morgan, NTSB said.