A former Florida Highway Patrol chief will reportedly be nominated to lead the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Derek Barrs, who has more than three decades of experience in law enforcement, is in line to be the FMCSA’s next administrator. If confirmed, Barrs would be the agency’s first permanent administrator since Robin Hutcheson resigned in 2024.
“OOIDA and the 150,000 small-business truckers we represent congratulate Derek Barrs on his nomination to lead the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “We look forward to working with him in advancing the priorities of small-business truckers across America, including fighting freight fraud, rolling back unnecessary regulations and closing regulatory loopholes to ensure the safest truck drivers remain in the industry. We encourage a swift confirmation in the Senate and look forward to working with Mr. Barrs to improve the safety of our roadways.”
Barrs has served as a member of the American Trucking Associations Law Enforcement Advisory Board, the Florida Trucking Association and the Flagler Sheriff’s Employee Assistant Trust Board of Directors.
The report of Barrs’ nomination comes days after it was announced that Adrienne Camire had stepped down from the role as the agency’s acting administrator. Camire served in the role for about two weeks after being appointed on March 7.
Camire previously had served as FMCSA’s senior advisor, as well as chief counsel for the Federal Highway Administration during President Donald Trump’s first term.
FMCSA at MATS
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is scheduled to host three sessions at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., from March 27-29.
On Thursday, March 27, FMCSA is scheduled to host a “Leadership Session” at noon in the Kentucky Exposition Center’s Pro Talks Theater B104. Details of the session have not been announced, and it is unclear if Barrs’ nomination will be official or if he will be in attendance at the event.
FMCSA will host a session in the same room at 10 a.m. Friday, March 28 about plans to modernize the agency’s registration system. The session at 10:45 a.m. on Saturday, March 29 will be about crash preventability, DataQs and the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. LL
Credit: Source link
