President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next administrator at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Derek Barrs, fielded questions from U.S. Senators Wednesday morning about highway safety, cargo theft and various forms of freight fraud, and more.
Barrs is a former law enforcement officer who retired in 2020 as chief of the Florida Highway Patrol. He was an active member of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and served as chair of CVSA’s Enforcement and Industry Modernization Committee. He has also served on the American Trucking Associations’ Law Enforcement Advisory Board.
During a Wednesday morning hearing with the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Barrs was joined by Trump’s nominees to lead the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration -- Jonathan Morrison and Paul Roberti, respectively -- to answer the committee’s questions in advance of their potential confirmation to their nominated roles.
During his opening statement, Barrs noted that during his 34-year law enforcement career, 25 years were spent “dedicated to commercial motor vehicle safety. ...
“My work has always emphasized open communication and collaboration -- with industry, law enforcement, and safety organizations,” Barrs said. “I understand that FMCSA’s actions impact an entire industry, and I am committed to ensuring that agency decisions are informed, balanced, and transparent. If confirmed, I will continue to strengthen relationships between government and stakeholders, working together on our shared goal of improving roadway safety, as well as addressing critical safety issues.”
[Related: Trump nominates former Florida Highway Patrol Chief Derek Barrs to lead FMCSA]
Committee Chair Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) opened the hearing by highlighting that Barrs “is deeply familiar with FMCSA, having enforced federal motor vehicle regulations and managed FMCSA grants in the state. As Administrator of FMCSA, he hopes to modernize the regulations governing the nation’s trucking and busing industries.”
To open questioning during the hearing, Cruz asked Barrs about issues related to Mexico-domiciled truck drivers “with fraudulently-issued Mexican CDLs ... coming into the U.S.” Cruz noted that those drivers “may not actually have the experience to drive safely on the roads and could potentially be violating U.S. cabotage laws.”
Barrs called the issue "concerning" and said he would work with Cruz on the issue if confirmed, noting that “safety is paramount. … Ensuring that drivers are qualified and safe has got to be the utmost importance of what we are doing.”
Cruz also asked Barrs about his stance on freight fraud, which comes in a variety of forms, and cargo theft, noting he’s currently working on legislation that will enhance FMCSA’s ability to identify and stop freight fraud.
Barrs called the related problems a “nationwide issue that is causing major issues with the trucking industry and our economy.” He vowed to work with Congress and other stakeholders “to ensure that bad actors are penalized or they go to jail the way they need to.”
[Related: FMCSA drops major hint on fate of broker transparency rulemaking]
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) referenced reports she said she had seen that “FMCSA’s carrier enforcement efforts have slowed” this year and asked Barrs, a retired law enforcement officer, how law enforcement acts as a deterrent to unwanted and unsafe behavior on the highways.
“It’s very important to make sure that we are strengthening enforcement and compliance and training and also uniformity in making sure things across the board are the same,” Barrs said. “I look forward to being able to understand what is going on within the agency," where "some of these" slowed enforcement efforts "may be happening, if you will, and making sure the investigations are being completed, and that we are taking bad actors off of our roadways” by putting carriers out of service or other means of enforcement.
Autonomous vehicles, both commercial and passenger, were a key topic during the two-hour hearing. Sen. Todd Young (R-Indiana), speaking specifically on commercial AVs, said he has heard in other recent hearings about “outdated regulations that either hinder the ability of industry to innovate or create logjams in the deployment of technology.” He specifically referenced the regulation that requires truck drivers to place warning triangles when stopped at roadside.
While Young's time for questioning was running out, he asked Barrs directly for a simple "yes" or "no" answer if he "sees opportunities for FMCSA to allow innovation in roadway safety so that drivers don't have to walk alongside the highway to manually place triangles," to which Barrs responded "yes."
Barrs also responded in the affirmative when asked if he would work with Young should he see "any areas where outdated regulations ... are prohibitive to innovation or detrimental to safety on ways to address" those issues.
[Related: DOT Secretary Duffy launches Autonomous Vehicle 'Innovation Agenda']
In response to questioning from Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada) regarding a need for truck parking, Barrs acknowledged the shortage of available parking spaces and said during his time working as law enforcement in Florida, he looked at “different ways we can work with [the Federal Highway Administration], with funding that goes directly to truck parking” and “looking at engineering ways to potentially redesign” parking facilities already in place.
Questions from other Senators were largely directed to NHTSA and PHMSA administrator nominees with a focus on vehicle prices and the costs and benefits of potential future safety technology, ways to reduce impaired and distracted driving and more.
The hearing can be seen in full here. Senators have until the end of the day Friday, July 18, to submit additional questions to the hearing record, and nominees have until the end of the day Monday, July 21, to respond to those questions. Future confirmation hearings have yet to be announced.
