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Dive Summary:
![Vinn White, Acting FMCSA Administrator, smiles in an official headshot photo](https://www.truckingdive.com/imgproxy/dg7Me56mWca2ihfKJCVGSSb-6kb1iP48uaIIhPhcr8w/g:ce/rs:fit:0:860/bG9jYWw6Ly8vZGl2ZWltYWdlL1Zpbm5fV2hpdGVfNzAweDgxNWEucG5n.webp)
![Vinn White, Acting FMCSA Administrator, smiles in an official headshot photo](https://www.truckingdive.com/imgproxy/dg7Me56mWca2ihfKJCVGSSb-6kb1iP48uaIIhPhcr8w/g:ce/rs:fit:0:860/bG9jYWw6Ly8vZGl2ZWltYWdlL1Zpbm5fV2hpdGVfNzAweDgxNWEucG5n.webp)
Vinn White, Acting FMCSA Administrator;
Courtesy of FMCSA
- The Department of Transportation has named its chief of artificial intelligence and other emerging technology to head the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Administration. the agency announced on Tuesday.
- Acting Administrator Vinn White worked for more than a decade at the federal DOT in the Obama and Biden administrations. He retains its role as acting AI chief, which he has held since 2021.
- “Our company is focused on enhancing safety for all road users, and I am committed to working with safety partners across the commercial vehicle industry to accomplish this work,” White said in the release.
Dive Insight:
The length of White’s tenure as FMCSA’s top official will likely be determined by the outcome of this year’s presidential election.
But his promotion to deputy head of the FMCSA and deputy administrator at the trucking industry’s lead safety regulator reflects the growing role that automation is playing in transportation.
The agency has been without a permanent leader since administrator Robin Hutcheson resigned in January. Trucking groups have expressed a desire for the next administrator to understand and listen to the industry — or even come from a trucking background.
White’s background is in government and politics, not trucking, according to his LinkedIn page. But his experience in developing and applying artificial intelligence to transportation could prove valuable as some driverless technology companies prepare to remove safety operators from trucks as soon as this year.
The federal transportation department has demonstrated its appetite for artificial intelligence expertise in key leadership roles. The DOT hired Allison Dane Camden, whose experience includes leading a West Coast artificial intelligence truck parking pilot, to head the Office of Multimodal Freight Infrastructure and Policy.
White is the third administrator to lead the FMCSA this year alone. Deputy Administrator Sue Lawless has served as the agency’s acting chief since Hutcheson’s departure in January.