Page 11 - ATR 2 2013

NEwS IN brIEf

LaHood oUT, foxx IN
On April 29, President Obama
made the much anticipated announce-
ment of the replacement for outgoing
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
Mayor of Charlotte, N.C.,
Anthony Foxx, a Democrat, replaces
a Republican, but in his brief speech
in the East Room of the White House
Obama made an appeal for biparti-
sanship. “We must work together to
enhance this nation’s infrastructure,”
he said.
LaHood, a former congressman
from Illinois who has held the post
since Obama first took office, called his
job the best he’s ever had and the presi-
dent one of the best bosses.
Foxx, who turned 42 the day after
his nomination, has served as mayor
for nearly four years. Before begin-
ning his career as an elected politician,
he worked as a lawyer for a private
firm as well as for the House Judiciary
Committee and the Justice Department.
While Foxx does not have a trans-
portation background, he did work as
mayor to extend a light-rail line, open
another runway at the airport, complete
a major highway widening, improve a passed last summer. Congress wanted
major bridge and bring streetcars back the final rule issued by October 1, 2013. arkaNSaS coNGrESSmaN
to Charlotte. FMCSA advised it will not be able to NamEd To frEIGHT PaNEL
issue the final rule until 2014. Congressman Rick Crawford
mISSING THE ELEcTroNIc FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro (R-Ark.) was named by Congressman
LoGGING dEadLINE said the timeline for finalizing the rule Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), chairman
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety in late 2014 with all trucking com- of the House Transportation and
Administration (FMCSA) will miss an panies required to be fully compliant Infrastructure Committee, to serve on
October deadline set by Congress when in 2016, is still “optimistic,” since the special panel to examine the current
it voted to mandate electronic on-board rulemaking process is lengthy. state of freight transportation in the
recorders, or logging devices, in all After President Obama signed United States.
commercial trucks as part of MAP-21, MAP-21 in July, FMCSA said it expected
the transportation reauthorization bill it could meet the October deadline. 

arkansas Trucking rePorT | issue 2 2013 11