Rose A. McMurray is a transportation safety professional providing consulting services to the trucking, motor coach, transit and other transportation sectors. She also provides expert witness services in truck and motor coach legal cases, as well as teaching safety management at the graduate student level.
Before her retirement from the federal government in January 2011, Ms. McMurray served as the Chief Safety Officer (CSO) and Assistant Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). In this position, which is one of only three career positions in the DOT requiring Presidential approval, she was the Agency’s most senior career official and was responsible for overseeing and improving the safety programs and operations of the Agency. Responsibilities included making significant policy and regulatory decisions affecting the operations of commercial trucking and passenger buses and their effect on interstate commerce. She led the design, planning and execution of the high visible Mexican long-haul trucking pilot program mandated by the NAFTA accords. Ms. McMurray also served as the final adjudicating official on issues related to carrier safety ratings and civil penalties. She was responsible for directing the development and deployment of the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) initiative which significantly reformed the safety measurement system affecting thousands of truck/bus companies and millions of commercial drivers.
During her 34-year career at DOT, Ms. McMurray held a number of prominent executive positions and served in a variety of roles. Before becoming the CSO, she served as FMCSA’s Associate Administrator for Policy and Program Development where she directed the Agency’s regulatory, policy, strategic planning and driver medical standards programs. At the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the USDOT Agency that regulates vehicle safety and establishes driver safety programs aimed at reducing highway fatalities and injuries, she was the Associate Administrator for Traffic Safety Programs where she directed all of the highway safety programs aimed at influencing driver behavior including drunk driving, seat belt use, distractions, etc., She also served as the Associate Administrator for Planning, Evaluation, and Budget.
Ms. McMurray held senior executive positions at the Federal Transit Administration, Federal Highway Administration, and the Research and Special Programs Administration (pipeline and hazardous materials safety), where she served as Acting Administrator for one year. In 2009, she served ten months as the Acting Head of FMCSA. She was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in 1989. Prior to her DOT tenure, she served as a Comptroller Intern with the Department of Defense.
Throughout her career, Ms. McMurray has been recognized with numerous honors and awards. In 2008, she received the Distinguished Service to Safety Award from the National Safety Council (NSC) which is the highest honor bestowed on an individual safety professional by the NSC in recognition of outstanding service to the field of safety and health. Other honors awarded to Ms. McMurray include twice receiving the Senior Executive Service Presidential Rank Award, the Secretary of Transportation’s Meritorious Achievement Award, and the Secretary’s Gold Medal for leading DOT Efforts during the 1993 Midwest Floods. She has served on the Board of Advisors for the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For the past fifteen years, she has been a member of the Board of Delegates of the National Safety Council. She also is Vice Chair of NSC’s Motor Carrier Safety Section and is the current Chair, Transportation Safety Division, as well as the prior Chair of the Women’s Leadership Caucus. From 2019-2020, Ms. McMurray will serve on the NSC Board of Directors.
In recognition of her traffic safety expertise, Ms. McMurray serves on the Workgroup convened to examine and update ANSI/ASSP A10.47, “Work Zone Safety for Highway Construction.” This voluntary standard represents the best practices for safeguarding the very high risk exposure highway workers face while laboring in highway work zones.
Ms. McMurray serves as Vice Chair of the West Virginia University (WVU) Visiting Committee for the Safety Management Program. Ms. McMurray is also an adjunct professor of motor fleet safety and safety legislation/compliance courses at WVU’s Graduate School of Safety Management. She has appeared on national news programs regarding road safety issues. Ms. McMurray served as technical advisor to the City of Morgantown (WV) and WVU Safe Communities Initiative on Curbing Underage and Binge Drinking.
Because of her broad experience in road safety matters, Ms. McMurray has served as an expert witness for both plaintiff and defense teams on the issue of truck and bus regulatory requirements and the best practices used within the commercial carrier industries to achieve improved safety performance. She provides counsel and advice to entities aiming to improve operations and better safety outcomes.
Ms. McMurray has worked extensively on international issues related to global road safety. From 1999-2004, Ms. McMurray was the U.S. Delegate to the United Nations’ Working Party on Road Traffic Safety, Geneva, Switzerland. In 2004, she was appointed as the U.S. representative for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Work Group on Achieving Ambitious Road Safety Targets with participating members from across the globe. Included in her international global road safety efforts were leading multi-national efforts to raise safety belt usage and improve motorcycle safety across the world. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration from West Virginia University where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa national academic honorary and Pi Sigma Alpha national political science honorary. She and her husband Jack have two adult children.