Jim Mullen, who served a stint as the interim head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, is going to be the next president of the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA).
Mullen will be replacing Jim Ward, who has announced his retirement. Mullen will take over the role April 6, but will be present at the group’s annual meeting in Orlando that begins February 28.
Mullen served at FMCSA between 2018 to 2020, After serving as general counsel, Mullen became one in the series of acting administrators (which means not confirmed by the Senate) who headed the agency following the 2019 resignation of Raymond Martinez. Mullen was followed by acting directors Wylie Deck and Meera Joshi.
Most recently, Mullen has had his own consulting firm, Jim Mullen Consulting, but is also head of the Clean Freight Coalition. That is an industry group that has come together to give trucking another voice at the table on issues regarding emissions and other environmental rules affecting trucks.
He left FMCSA in 2020 to become chief legal officer, as well as other positions, at autonomous trucking company TuSimple. That one-time publicly-traded company is now private.
Earlier in his career, Mullen also held legal positions at truckload carrier Werner Enterprises. (NASDAQ: WERN).
“Jim’s depth of experience, steady leadership, and strong understanding of the issues facing our industry make him the right person to lead TCA into its next chapter,” TCA chair Karen Smerchek said in the prepared statement announcing Mullen’s hiring. “His appointment reflects our commitment to continuity, momentum, and delivering meaningful value to our members.”
Mullen participated in last year’s TCA media availability session, where as executive director of the Clean Freight Coalition he addressed what were recent steps taken by the new days of the Trump administration that impacted California clean air regulations directed at trucking.
In the TCA’s prepared statement, Mullen said he was “honored to join TCA and grateful to the Association’s leadership for their confidence in me. I look forward to working closely with TCA’s officers, staff, and members to advance the association’s mission and support a strong, safe, and competitive truckload industry.”
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