(Updated with statement from Department of Transportation)
Meera Joshi is not going to be the permanent head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The acting administrator is going back to the municipal government of New York City. Mayor-elect Eric Adams on Monday announced the appointment of five deputy mayors, all of them females. Joshi is one of the five.
Joshi is currently deputy administrator at FMCSA. In October, the Senate’s Commerce Committee had voted to advance her nomination to become the administrator of FMCSA.
A statement issued by the Department of Transportation said Joshi will remain in her current role for the next month.
Joshi had joined FMCSA after she was nominated to head the trucking regulator by President Biden in April.
Her earlier role in the New York City administration was with the Taxi & Limousine Commission. She was in that commissioner’s job when she was nominated by Biden to become the head of FMCSA.
There has not been a Senate-approved head of FMCSA since Raymond Martinez resigned in October 2019. He had only had the job for a little more than a year. Since then, a series of interim administrators or deputy administrators, like Joshi, have headed the agency.
The American Trucking Associations’ President Chris Spear issued a rapid statement after the news of Joshi’s departure.
“Throughout her tenure, the trucking industry has found Deputy Administrator Joshi to be a candid, collaborative and valued partner in government,” Spear said. “Her use of data and stakeholder input drove a sound policy process designed to meet real-world needs. Her leadership has helped to ensure our industry could continue to safely serve the American people and meet the demands of the economy during these incredible times.”
The DOT, in its statement, said Joshi “has engaged with truck drivers and the motor coach industry to chart a clear path for FMCSA to address our supply chain challenges, improve driver safety and job quality, and has built a strong team at FMCSA who will help build on this foundation.”