Trump nominates new administrator of the FMCSA

Trump nominates new administrator of the FMCSA
Published on September 26th, 2017 by Ashley

It was announced yesterday that Trump has nominated a contender to become the new Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

Trump has nominated Ray Martinez, currently the Chief Administrator of New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle Commission, to fill the vacant position FMCSA position.

Martinez has previously run 2 different departments of motor vehicles in large eastern states.

This position was made available in January when former Administrator T.F. Scott Darling III resigned. Since January, Daphne Jefferson has acted as Administrator.

The press release reads:

“Mr. Martinez is currently the Chairman and Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and a Member of the New Jersey State Planning Commission. He manages a State agency with over $1 billion in annual revenue and an operating budget of approximately $330 million. It is charged with the licensing of nearly 6 million drivers and the titling, registration, and inspection of over 6 million vehicles. He previously served as the New York State Commissioner of Motor Vehicles and Chairman of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee as well as Deputy Chief of Staff and Special Counsel to the New York State Attorney General. Mr. Martinez has twice served on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Earlier in his career he served as Deputy United States Chief of Protocol at the Department of State, Deputy Director of Scheduling and Advance for the First Lady and as a Special Assistant at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Martinez earned a J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law in New York and a B.A. from Long Island University’s C.W. Post College, where he later served on the adjunct faculty in Public Administration.”

Martinez clearly has the education and experience within the motor industry needed to run such an organization as the FMCSA. In a time of transition, Martinez would take over responsibilites if approved by the Senate.

Currently, the FMCSA is undergoing a lot more change than just leadership; the FMCSA is changing its safety performance scoring system, titled Compliance, Safety, Accountability

Before the nomination can go any further, the nomination will have to be approved by the Senate.

In response to the nomination, David Heller, Vice President of Government Affairs for the Truckload Carriers Association commented, “We look forward to working with Mr. Martinez on important industry wide safety initiatives and will rely upon his experience and leadership to aid in improving the safety record of this great industry.”

Similarly, the Owner Operators Independent Drivers Association’s Executive Vice president Todd Spencer responded, “If confirmed, we look forward to working with him to redirect the agency’s focus to encourage and support smart safety decisions for drivers while eliminating the bureaucratic clutter that too often obscures serious safety issues. We look forward to introducing the new administrator to some of the real safety experts — drivers who count their safe miles by the millions.”

“Mr. Martinez is well-known to our industry from his work in New Jersey and New York, and exudes the kind of professionalism, integrity and focus on safety that FMCSA needs,” added ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “On behalf of ATA, I congratulate him on his nomination, and urge the Senate to quickly confirm him so we can begin working together on important highway safety issues.”

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