Lahood to Resign as Transportation Secretary

Maritime News Press Releases
1

The latest from Secretary Lahood:

I will not serve a second term; but we have more work to doI want Fast Lane readers to be among the first to know that I will not serve a second term as Secretary of Transportation.
One of the best things about the four years that I have served in this office is the ability to share the achievements of DOT with readers of this blog. It’s no secret that I value the work we do here, and it has been a pleasure to demonstrate that twice daily on the Fast Lane.
Below, readers will find the message I sent this morning to the folks at DOT. But I also want to direct your attention to a document we’ve prepared that lists DOT Accomplishments for the past four years.

“I have let President Obama know that I will not serve a second term as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It has been an honor and a privilege to lead the Department, and I am grateful to President Obama for giving me such an extraordinary opportunity. I plan to stay on until my successor is confirmed to ensure a smooth transition for the Department and all the important work we still have to do.

As I look back on the past four years, I am proud of what we have accomplished together in so many important areas. But what I am most proud of is the DOT team. You exemplify the best of public service, and I truly appreciate all that you have done to make America better, to make your communities better, and to make DOT better.

Our achievements are significant. We have put safety front and center with the Distracted Driving Initiative and a rule to combat pilot fatigue that was decades in the making. We have made great progress in improving the safety of our transit systems, pipelines, and highways, and in reducing roadway fatalities to historic lows. We have strengthened consumer protections with new regulations on buses, trucks, and airlines.

We helped jumpstart the economy and put our fellow Americans back to work with $48 billion in transportation funding from the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, and awarded over $2.7 billion in TIGER grants to 130 transportation projects across the Nation. We have made unprecedented investments in our nation’s ports. And we have put aviation on a sounder footing with the FAA reauthorization, and secured funding in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act to help States build and repair their roads, bridges and transit systems.

And to further secure our future, we have taken transportation into the 21st century with CAFE Standards, NextGen, and our investments in passenger and High-Speed Rail. What’s more, we have provided the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy with the funding and leadership it needs to prepare a new generation of midshipmen to meet our country’s rapidly-evolving defense and maritime transportation needs.

Closer to home, we also have made great strides. In December, the DOT was recognized as the most improved agency in the entire Federal government in the 2012 “Best Places to Work” rankings published by the Partnership of Public Service. Even more impressive, DOT was ranked 9th out of the 19 largest agencies in the government.

Each of these remarkable accomplishments is a tribute your hard work, creativity, commitment to excellence, and most of all, your dedication to our country. DOT is fortunate to have such an extraordinary group of public servants. I look forward to continuing to work with all of you as the selection and confirmation process of the next transportation secretary moves forward. Now is not the time to let up - we still have a number of critical safety goals to accomplish and still more work to do on the implementation of MAP-21.

I’ve told President Obama, and I’ve told many of you, that this is the best job I’ve ever had. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to work with all of you and I’m confident that DOT will continue to achieve great things in the future.

Thank you, and God bless you.”

2

Interesting. Just last week he said he was going to stay for an indefinite time and now he is resigning.

3

Blessed be the Lord who art in Heaven!

Now please God, put a man into the office who knows and cares about the words “Maritime Industry” We are but simple pilgrims wandering in an arid land and beseech thee for deliverance from a time of great drought and famine…

4

[QUOTE=c.captain;96623]Blessed be the Lord who art in Heaven!

Now please God, put a man into the office who knows and cares about the words “Maritime Industry” We are but simple pilgrims wandering in an arid land and beseech thee for deliverance from a time of great drought and famine…[/QUOTE]

Careful what you wish for! I’d bet $100 that whoever gets nominated is worse.

Maybe Matusda will get promoted!

5

From an AP article, possible replacements for LaHood include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Debbie Hersman, the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Boad and Rep. Jim Oberstar of Minnesota, who led the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

6

[QUOTE=leadline;96633]From an AP article, possible replacements for LaHood include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Debbie Hersman, the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Boad and Rep. Jim Oberstar of Minnesota, who led the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.[/QUOTE]

If the Lord is kind and benevolent, it will be Oberstar…he at least knows what a ship is!

7

Rep. Jim Oberstar is 78 years old. I don’t have any issue with his age but I don’t see how the current administration would nominate him. In all likely hood it will be Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

8

[QUOTE=leadline;96643]Rep. Jim Oberstar is 78 years old. I don’t have any issue with his age but I don’t see how the current administration would nominate him. In all likely hood it will be Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.[/QUOTE]

didn’t know Oberstar was so on in years…that’s too bad because I would love to see him in the job. I don’t want Villaraigosa…he is not a man with any maritime awareness other than the Port of LA/LB which is almost exclusively foreign flagged containerships. Does anyone know anything about this Debbie Hersman?

9

Hersman is the daughter of retired Air Force Brigadier General Walt Hersman, who served two tours in Vietnam as a fighter pilot. She grew up as the eldest of three daughters and moved around a lot, spending time in places that included Amman, Jordan, and Madrid, Spain. Her family settled in Northern Virginia when Hersman was 17 years old.

She attended Chantilly High School, where she met her future husband, Niel Plummer, who is now a software engineer for Lockheed Martin.

In 1992, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degrees in political science and international studies from Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia.

After college, Hersman joined the staff of Congressman Bob Wise (D-West Virginia), rising from summer intern to office manager to senior legislative aide. While working for Wise, Hersman dealt with a series of coal-train derailments near Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

She also attended graduate school during this time, earning her Master of Science in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University in 1999.

That same year, she left Wise’s office to join the staff of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. She worked on the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999, which created a new truck and bus safety administration within the Department of Transportation. She also helped to pass the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002; the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century; the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act and other transportation safety and security measures.
In June 2004, Hersman was appointed to the NTSB by President George W. Bush. She has been the member-on-the-scene of ay least 17 major transportation accidents, including the crash of a Maryland State Police EMS helicopter in Forestville, Maryland (September 2008); the collision of two Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority trains in Washington, DC, that killed 9 people (June 2009); and a mid-air collision involving a sightseeing helicopter and a single-engine plane over the Hudson River that killed all 9 persons (August 2009).

10

Mayor Villarigosa’s vision

I recently returned from a trade mission to China, Japan, and South Korea. Of the many conversations I had with business leaders and government officials, one thing was clear: Los Angeles is the premier destination for goods entering the United States from the Pacific Rim.
But the clock is ticking.
We know the folks down in Panama are working hard to widen their canal, and when the widening is done, shippers will have more choice about the destination for their cargo.
We in Los Angeles are making sure that they continue to choose Los Angeles. Our port is a vital economic engine for the region – additional cargo means additional jobs. So make no mistake: we need to grow our port, especially now.
Since I entered the Mayor’s Office in 2005, I have been convinced that the only way to grow the port and create jobs was to go green. January 1, 2012 marked a major milestone of the Clean Truck Program. The program is an integral part of the 2006 Clean Air Action Plan, a sweeping plan aimed at significantly reducing the health risks posed by air pollution from port-related ships, trains, trucks, terminal equipment, and harbor craft.
The trucks at the Port now meet the strictest clean air and safety standards of any major port in the world.
By progressively banning older model trucks, we have slashed the harmful pollutants that cause smog and asthma. Originally, we aimed to cut the port’s harmful emissions by half between 2005 and 2010.
We are pleased to report that the plan and the program have exceeded our expectations by reducing sulfur oxide emissions by 76%, diesel particulate matter by 69%, and nitrogen oxides by 50%. Emissions from trucks alone have been reduced by over 80%.
The operation of 9,800 Clean Trucks reduces more than 40 tons of diesel particulate matter – that’s like eliminating the pollution from 300,000 cars per year.
We have truly made a difference and cleaned up the air in this region.
We did this because while the local communities benefited from the Port’s economic activity, they also suffered from its pollution.
Cleaning up the air was the right thing to do, but it was also the economically savvy thing to do, too. We’ve shown that you can add infrastructure and reduce emissions at the same time.
We’ve put shovels in the ground at the port because we passed six major Environmental Impact Reports since I became mayor. We never could have accomplished this without the Clean Air Action Plan. We’ve worked together with industry and private partners to ensure that we are growing the Port in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner, and we have laid out a roadmap for sustainable growth.
Over the next five years, we will invest $1.5 billion to provide superior shipping and logistics infrastructure to attract first-class business tenants to the Port.
Ensuring our growth is sustainable is a part of everything we do. We are investing over $100 million in Alternative Maritime Power (AMP), which will allow container and cruise ships to plug into the grid rather than burning dirty diesel generating fuel when berthed at the Port.
We are deepening the port’s main channel, guaranteeing 53-foot-deep access, and we are making sure that when goods reach Los Angeles, they will get to market quickly and efficiently.
In most cases we’re still going to be the fastest way between point A and point B. We still have the best harbor, the most state-of-the-art facilities, the best rail connectivity, and the most warehouse space near the Port of any of our competitors.
By growing sustainably, we’re keeping the Port of LA the number one trade gateway, and truly America’s port.

11

[QUOTE=leadline;96646]Hersman is the daughter of retired Air Force Brigadier General Walt Hersman, who served two tours in Vietnam as a fighter pilot. She grew up as the eldest of three daughters and moved around a lot, spending time in places that included Amman, Jordan, and Madrid, Spain. Her family settled in Northern Virginia when Hersman was 17 years old.

She attended Chantilly High School, where she met her future husband, Niel Plummer, who is now a software engineer for Lockheed Martin.

In 1992, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degrees in political science and international studies from Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia.

After college, Hersman joined the staff of Congressman Bob Wise (D-West Virginia), rising from summer intern to office manager to senior legislative aide. While working for Wise, Hersman dealt with a series of coal-train derailments near Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

She also attended graduate school during this time, earning her Master of Science in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University in 1999.

That same year, she left Wise’s office to join the staff of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. She worked on the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999, which created a new truck and bus safety administration within the Department of Transportation. She also helped to pass the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002; the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century; the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act and other transportation safety and security measures.
In June 2004, Hersman was appointed to the NTSB by President George W. Bush. She has been the member-on-the-scene of ay least 17 major transportation accidents, including the crash of a Maryland State Police EMS helicopter in Forestville, Maryland (September 2008); the collision of two Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority trains in Washington, DC, that killed 9 people (June 2009); and a mid-air collision involving a sightseeing helicopter and a single-engine plane over the Hudson River that killed all 9 persons (August 2009).[/QUOTE]

In other words, not a lick of maritime experience or likely much knowledge!

not good for us.

12

[QUOTE=leadline;96647]Mayor Villarigosa’s vision

I recently returned from a trade mission to China, Japan, and South Korea. Of the many conversations I had with business leaders and government officials, one thing was clear: Los Angeles is the premier destination for goods entering the United States from the Pacific Rim.
But the clock is ticking.
We know the folks down in Panama are working hard to widen their canal, and when the widening is done, shippers will have more choice about the destination for their cargo.
We in Los Angeles are making sure that they continue to choose Los Angeles. Our port is a vital economic engine for the region – additional cargo means additional jobs. So make no mistake: we need to grow our port, especially now.
Since I entered the Mayor’s Office in 2005, I have been convinced that the only way to grow the port and create jobs was to go green. January 1, 2012 marked a major milestone of the Clean Truck Program. The program is an integral part of the 2006 Clean Air Action Plan, a sweeping plan aimed at significantly reducing the health risks posed by air pollution from port-related ships, trains, trucks, terminal equipment, and harbor craft.
The trucks at the Port now meet the strictest clean air and safety standards of any major port in the world.
By progressively banning older model trucks, we have slashed the harmful pollutants that cause smog and asthma. Originally, we aimed to cut the port’s harmful emissions by half between 2005 and 2010.
We are pleased to report that the plan and the program have exceeded our expectations by reducing sulfur oxide emissions by 76%, diesel particulate matter by 69%, and nitrogen oxides by 50%. Emissions from trucks alone have been reduced by over 80%.
The operation of 9,800 Clean Trucks reduces more than 40 tons of diesel particulate matter – that’s like eliminating the pollution from 300,000 cars per year.
We have truly made a difference and cleaned up the air in this region.
We did this because while the local communities benefited from the Port’s economic activity, they also suffered from its pollution.
Cleaning up the air was the right thing to do, but it was also the economically savvy thing to do, too. We’ve shown that you can add infrastructure and reduce emissions at the same time.
We’ve put shovels in the ground at the port because we passed six major Environmental Impact Reports since I became mayor. We never could have accomplished this without the Clean Air Action Plan. We’ve worked together with industry and private partners to ensure that we are growing the Port in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner, and we have laid out a roadmap for sustainable growth.
Over the next five years, we will invest $1.5 billion to provide superior shipping and logistics infrastructure to attract first-class business tenants to the Port.
Ensuring our growth is sustainable is a part of everything we do. We are investing over $100 million in Alternative Maritime Power (AMP), which will allow container and cruise ships to plug into the grid rather than burning dirty diesel generating fuel when berthed at the Port.
We are deepening the port’s main channel, guaranteeing 53-foot-deep access, and we are making sure that when goods reach Los Angeles, they will get to market quickly and efficiently.
In most cases we’re still going to be the fastest way between point A and point B. We still have the best harbor, the most state-of-the-art facilities, the best rail connectivity, and the most warehouse space near the Port of any of our competitors.
By growing sustainably, we’re keeping the Port of LA the number one trade gateway, and truly America’s port.[/QUOTE]

just as I thought, knows ports and their importance but knows probably little about ships except regarding their emissions.

another not good choice for US maritime

13

[QUOTE=c.captain;96650]just as I thought, knows ports and their importance but knows probably little about ships except regarding their emissions.

another not good choice for US maritime[/QUOTE]

For the next four years any new government appointee is going to have to be the lesser of two evils for everyone in our industry. This administration has turned its back on us at every available opportunity. Cutting US ship-building subsidies, granting totally unnecessary Jones Act waivers, the list goes on. There is no good choice, not till November 2016. Buckle down, swallow hard, put on your tinfoil hat, and start praying.

14

[QUOTE=PaddyWest2012;96653]For the next four years any new government appointee is going to have to be the lesser of two evils for everyone in our industry. This administration has turned its back on us at every available opportunity.[/QUOTE]

Ever hear of a fellow named John McCain?

15

[QUOTE=Sweat-n-Grease;96660]Ever hear of a fellow named John McCain?[/QUOTE]

Goddamn man hates us!

16

[QUOTE=Sweat-n-Grease;96660]Ever hear of a fellow named John McCain?[/QUOTE]

True. I did not mean to suggest that anyone not a part of the current administration is an unyielding friend to our industry but the number of members of the administration who are friends to the industry is equally unimpressive.

17

[QUOTE=cmjeff;96629]Careful what you wish for! I’d bet $100 that whoever gets nominated is worse.

Maybe Matusda will get promoted![/QUOTE]

I’ll take that bet because the only man who could be worse is Matsuda himself!

18

[QUOTE=leadline;96633]From an AP article, possible replacements for LaHood include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Debbie Hersman, the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Boad and Rep. Jim Oberstar of Minnesota, who led the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.[/QUOTE]

Oberstar has done a good job at the House transportation and infrastructure committe. To bad he is that old, he is probably the best man for the job from that list.

19

[QUOTE=PaddyWest2012;96672]True. I did not mean to suggest that anyone not a part of the current administration is an unyielding friend to our industry but the number of members of the administration who are friends to the industry is equally unimpressive.[/QUOTE]

True, Paddy ~

//youtu.be/RJVUTHLFdQ0

And then came the Second World War ~
Bah … Baah … Baaah

20

Found this a little bit ago

NTSB’s Hersman a possible contender to lead DOT

By David Tanner, Land Line associate editor

The question of who will lead the U.S. DOT after Secretary Ray LaHood officially steps aside remains still up in the air, but one name that continues to surface on speculative short lists is Deborah Hersman, current chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Hersman received a glowing endorsement last week from U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-WV, chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. On his Twitter site, Rockefeller said Jan. 30 that Hersman has the experience to be a “terrific” secretary, and would make safety and infrastructure investment her priorities.

Photo credit: National Transportation Safety Board

Hersman served the Commerce Committee for 12 years before ascending to the NTSB leadership role.

She’s been outspoken in favor of electronic on-board recorders, collision avoidance systems and speed limiters for motor carries and coaches. She has also criticized the effectiveness of the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program that tracks and scores safety ratings for motor carriers.

But while the NTSB investigates high-profile fatal crashes and provides safety recommendations to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and other transportation agencies, the NTSB itself does not have the power to regulate.

Truckers may be familiar with Hersman on a more personal level. She rode with truckers en route to the 2011 Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, KY, where she was a featured speaker for events held by Women in Trucking and the Truck Writers of North America.

Hersman holds a CDL with passenger, school bus and air brake endorsements, and she has a motorcycle license as well.

She is not alone on people’s lists of contenders to lead the DOT.

Media reports have also mentioned former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell; former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm; former Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire; former U.S. Rep. and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar, D-MN; retired U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette, R-OH; retired U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX; and current Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa among possible contenders. Even Anne Ferro, the FMCSA administrator, has been mentioned.

It’s possible that the next DOT secretary has not been mentioned on anyone’s short list at this point. Prior to President Obama’s appointment of Ray LaHood in 2009, the outspoken former congressman from Illinois was not on very many people’s radar of likely candidates.

In the end, the only list that matters belongs to the White House, and at this point that list is still a secret.

Copyright © OOIDA