The Truck Safety Coalition congratulates Joan Claybrook (Chair of the Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH) Board, President Emeritus of Public Citizen and former Administrator of NHTSA) and Jeff Burns (Board Member for CRASH and Parents Against Tired Truckers (PATT)) on being selected for membership on the National Freight Advisory Committee (NFAC). Please see DOT’s announcement below:

DOT Thursday, May 30, 2013

Contact: DOT Press Office Tel.: (202) 366-4570

U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood Announces National Freight Advisory Committee Members

NFAC Will Provide Recommendations to Improve National Freight Transportation System

WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced the members of the National Freight Advisory Committee, a diverse group of professionals that will provide advice and recommendations aimed at improving the national freight transportation system. A strong freight transportation system is critical to the nation’s economy and essential for helping meet President Obama’s goal of doubling U.S. exports by 2015.

“The strength of our economy and the strength of our national freight system go hand in hand,” said Secretary LaHood. “The members of this committee understand firsthand the critical importance of freight movement, and their valuable insight will help ensure that our system is more secure and better connected.”

The Advisory Committee is comprised of 47 voting members from outside the Department of Transportation. The Deputy Secretary and Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy, as well as representatives from other Federal agencies with freight-related obligations will serve as ex-officio members. Members come with various perspectives on freight transportation and represent various modes of transportation, geographic regions, and policy areas. Freight customers and providers, labor representatives, safety experts and government entities are all represented as well.

Members will serve two-year terms and meet at least three times per year. The first NFAC meeting is scheduled for June 25, 2013, at the Department of Transportation and will include an overview of MAP-21 Freight provisions and preliminary identification of NFAC activities. The meeting is open to the public. Information regarding the meeting will be available on the Federal Register.

The U.S. Department of Transportation solicited nominations in February. Secretary LaHood selected members with input from the MAP-21 Freight Implementation Team as well as the Freight Policy Council, an internal body of DOT leadership created to facilitate cross-modal implementation of freight provisions in the recently signed surface transportation bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, or MAP-21.

MAP-21 established a national freight policy and called for the creation of a National Freight Strategic Plan. By engaging stakeholders representing diverse interests, the Advisory Committee will provide recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation on how DOT can improve its freight transportation policies and programs.

The collaboration of stakeholders will serve to promote involvement and compliance with proposed plans and performance measures and will support the implementation of larger freight policy initiatives.

Over the last four years, the Obama Administration has made considerable investments in our national freight network. Through four rounds of the TIGER Grant program, DOT has directed $1 billion toward projects that primarily address freight. This includes more than $650 million to projects that strengthen freight rail infrastructure, reduce freight bottlenecks, and alleviate congestion issues, and more than $350 million to our port system.

The National Freight Advisory Committee members are:

Stephen Alterman, Cargo Airline Association

Gregory A. Ballard, City of Indianapolis

Kevin L. Brubaker, Environmental Law Policy Center

Jeffrey Burns, Parents Against Tired Truckers and Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways

Terry Button, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association

Anne Canby, OneRail

Joan Claybrook, Public Citizen

Kristin Decas, Port of Hueneme

Mortimer L. Downey III, CAGTC

John H. Eaves, Fulton County

John E. Fenton, Patriot Rail Corp

Karen Flynn, Arkema Inc.

Carlos A. Gimenez, Miami-Dade County

Genevieve Giuliano, University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy

John Thomas Gray II, Association of American Railroads

Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, Lambert International Airport

Brad Hildebrand, Cargill, Inc.

Stacey D. Hodge, New York City Department of Transportation

James P. Hoffa, International Brotherhood of Teamsters

José Holguín-Veras, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Jack Holmes, UPS Freight

Richard Inclima, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the Teamster Rail Conference

Frances Lee Inman, Majestic Realty Co.

Randell Iwasaki, Contra Costa Transportation Authority

Michael Jewell, Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association, AFL-CIO

Paul R. Kelly, A & S; S Service Group

Paul C. LaMarre III, Port of Monroe

Michelle Livingstone, The Home Depot >p>Bonnie Lowenthal, State of California

Andrew S. Lynn, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

C. Randal Mullett, Con-way Inc.

Rosa Navejar, The Rios Group Michael Nutter, City of Philadelphia

Gary A. Palmer, True Value Company

Craig Philip, Ingram Barge Company

John Previsich, SMART – Transportation Division

William Roberson, Nucor Steel – Berkeley

Christopher T. Rodgers, Douglas County, National Association of Counties

Mark Andrew Savage, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance/Colorado State Patrol

Karen Schmidt, Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board

Ann Schneider, Illinois DOT

Ricky D. Smith, Department of Port Control, Cleveland Airport

Mike Tooley, Montana DOT Peter G. Vigue, Cianbro Companies

Michael C. Walton, University of Texas Austin

A.C. Warton, City of Memphis

Leonard Waterworth, Port of Houston Authority

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