Deborah Freund ACS60 Paper Award

In establishing the Deborah Freund ACS60 Paper Award, Brenda Lantz, the Chair of the Truck and Bus Safety Committee in 2014, shared that Debbie was a long-term, valued member of the committee, and provided very thorough and informative FMCSA policy and rulemaking updates at each meeting. She also most recently gave a presentation at our Truck & Bus Safety - Key Research - Past, Present, and Future Session in the area of "Motor Carrier Safety Laws and Regulations" at the 2014 Annual Meeting.

Scott Darling, the FMCSA Acting Administrator in 2014, shared that Debbie joined the FHWA's Office of Motor Carriers in the early 1990's from FHWA's Office of Research at Turner-Fairbank. She was instrumental in spearheading the Driver Fatigue and Alertness Study to support early efforts to improve the hours-of-service rules. She also was instrumental in FMCSA's efforts to mandate the use of Electronic Logging. She served FMCSA as an outstanding motor carrier safety research leader and regulatory expert in the Office of Policy. Her peers and colleagues in the Department and external groups, such as the Transportation Research Board and the Society of Automotive Engineers, acknowledged her expertise and leadership in transportation safety through numerous awards and accolades. She was a true safety professional committed to FMCSA's mission, a colleague, and a friend.

In September 2001 she was designated the Agency's National Technical Expert for Vehicle Research. Debbie made over 30 formal presentations at industry conferences over the past 10 years alone and was instrumental in development of over 40 regulatory actions covering truck and bus driver safety, vehicle parts and accessories, inspection, repair, and maintenance, and motor carrier operations and oversight. Debbie had more than 30 years of experience in highway infrastructure and commercial motor vehicle safety research and operations. She was active in a variety of programs that touched each modal administration in the Department at one time or another.

The Department and the Agency recognized Debbie numerous times over her career. She received the Secretary of Transportation's highly prestigious Award for Meritorious Achievement in November 1996. She was named the FMCSA Employee of the Year in 2000 and received the Administrator's Award for Superior Achievement in October 2001. She also received numerous team awards from FMCSA and the Department.

In 2003, Debbie earned SAE's coveted Forest R. McFarland Award, which recognizes individuals for their outstanding contributions to engineering, and in 2007 she was selected to present SAE International's L. Ray Buckendale Lecture at the 2007 SAE Commercial Vehicle Congress and Exhibition. The Buckendale lecture is directed primarily to the needs of young engineers and students with emphasis on practical aspects of the topic. Debbie selection as the lecturer was fitting, as she a longtime mentor and strong advocate of the engineering profession among young people.

From an article published in Heavy Duty Trucking September 2014, Deborah "Debbie" Freund was a senior transportation specialist at the FMCSA for nearly 15 years, and at the time of her death was a National Technical Expert for Vehicle Research. During that time, she served as a member of the Transportation Research Board Freight Transportation Economics and Regulation Committee and the Truck and Bus Safety Committee.

Her regulatory development responsibilities included safety of commercial vehicle parts and accessories, driver hours-of-service, and motor carrier operations and compliance issues. She also developed and managed major research studies on driver fatigue and alertness and on new applications for vehicle sensor and communications technologies.

She received her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and Master of Science, Transportation and Urban Systems from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. Her career began at the council of state governments in Kansas City as a transportation planner. She later worked for the Federal Highway Administration at the Turner Fairbank Research Center before going to work at the Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C.

She was active in the Society of Automotive Engineers, including organizing and co-organizing many SAE Commercial Vehicle Congress sessions. She was asked to deliver SAE's prestigious Buckendale Lecture at the annual Commercial Vehicle Meeting a few years ago and received the McFarland Award for her contributions to SAE and the industry. She also was a fellow with the Institute of Transportation Engineers and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Although she was not a member of the American Trucking Associations' Technology & Maintenance Council, she was a frequent sight at meetings, participating in everything from Task Force sessions to Technical Sessions. "Debbie has been the brains and heart of the key trucking regulations, including most recently the e-log rule," says HDT Washington Editor Oliver Patton. "She's been a true champion for truck safety."

She spoke in 2013 to the Truck Writers of North America at their annual awards banquet on the topic of "Trucking Through the Government 101: Who Does What?" "Debbie was a creative problem solver, a strong leader and a good friend to the trucking industry," says Paul Abelson, a longtime TWNA member and trucking reporter who worked with Freund on SAE and TMC panels. "She will be missed."

Married to Douglas White for 33 years, they lived for 30 years in Dunn Loring, Va. White says she loved live theater, concerts, hiking, birding, gardening, kayaking, bicycling, traveling, and practiced yoga since 2001. She was the chair for her local university alumni club.