Biden Taps Meera Joshi to Head FMCSA

President Joe Biden has announced his intent to nominate Meera Joshi as administrator of the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Joshi is currently serving as FMCSA’s deputy and acting administrator, a position she’s held since January.

The FMCSA has been operating under acting administrators since Administrator Ray Martinez stepped down in October 2019.

Joshi is an attorney with over 16 years of experience leading government oversight agencies. She has served as general manager for the New York office of Sam Schwartz Transportation Consultants, and was a visiting scholar at New York University’s Rudin Center for Transportation Policy.

Previously, Joshi was chair and chief executive officer of the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, the nation’s largest for-hire transportation regulator. There she spearheaded Vision Zero campaigns using data tools to keep high risk drivers and unsafe vehicles off the road.  She also led landmark policy, including establishing open transportation data standards for app-based providers; enacting the nation’s first for-hire driver pay protection program and providing broad access to for-hire transportation for passengers who use wheelchairs, White House officials said in a press release.

Prior to transportation regulation, Joshi was the Inspector General for New York City’s Department of Corrections and the First Deputy Executive Director of New York City’s Civilian Complaint Review Board.

Her nomination drew support from the American Trucking Associations' President and Chief Executive Officer Chris Spear. 

“Deputy Administrator Joshi has been communicating well with trucking industry stakeholders, and our economic recovery and growth will depend on how challenges facing the industry are addressed. These issues - including training, workforce development, technology and strengthening interstate commerce – will need strong leadership by FMCSA," Spear said in published statement. "As our economy and communities recover from the pandemic, we look forward to working with her in her new role to help address these critical priorities without compromising safety.”

Joshi made headlines last month with her comments about how autonomous truck technology would affect truck-driving jobs, saying "there are real and broad impacts [of] automation on peoples’ livelihoods."

Originally posted on Trucking Info