Robin Hutcheson is new acting administrator of FMCSA

Washington — Robin Hutcheson has been appointed deputy administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Department of Transportation announced Jan. 19.

Hutcheson assumes the role of acting agency administrator after Meera Joshi, President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the agency on a permanent basis, withdrew her candidacy last month after accepting an offer to serve as New York City’s deputy mayor for operations.

FMCSA hasn’t had a permanent, Senate-confirmed leader since Raymond Martinez stepped down in October 2019. Jim Mullen and Wiley Deck served as acting agency administrators after Martinez resigned.

Hutcheson enters the position after spending the past year as DOT’s deputy assistant secretary for safety policy. In that role, she led department safety policy while coordinating other efforts, such as those related to COVID-19 pandemic response and recovery, a DOT press release states.

Additional previous work experience includes serving as director of public works for the City of Minneapolis, as well as transportation director for Salt Lake City, UT. Hutcheson spent seven years on the board of directors for the National Association of City Transportation Officials, for which she also served as president. She also has experience as an international transportation and transit consultant.

The American Trucking Associations is backing Hutcheson.

“We congratulate Deputy Administrator Hutcheson on this new role, and we look forward to working together with her on our shared goal of highway safety,” ATA President and CEO Chris Spear said in a press release. “If she is formally nominated to serve as administrator, we will support her nomination.”

Citing COVID-19 as well as natural disasters and workforce shortages, among other factors, Spear added that Hutcheson “assumes this position at a critical time.”

After Hutcheson’s departure from NACTO’s board of directors in January 2021, the organization’s executive director, Corinne Kisner, hailed Hutcheson’s “ability to channel broad issues into discrete actions” and said she “prioritized safety above all else.”