The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance recently added two new members to its staff. Randy West has joined as new Driver Programs director, and Will Schaefer has joined as Vehicle Programs director.
West has 31 years of experience in the commercial vehicle industry having worked for the Utah Highway Patrol since 1979 when he started his career as a trooper, with the last 16 years working with the department’s Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program. The last five years he served as sergeant over the MCSAP Team, a group of seven members spending 100 percent of their time inspecting commercial motor vehicles and their drivers. He was selected to serve as an associate staff instructor for the North American Part A Course in 1993 and has functioned as such to this date.
West retired from the UHP in January 2000 and went to work for the Utah Department of Transportation/Motor Carrier Division (UDOT/MCD) from that time until January 2004 conducting compliance reviews and serving as the CVISN program manager for the state of Utah. In 2002, he returned to the Utah Highway Patrol and assisted with the state of Utah’s Safety Inspection Program in addition to serving as the MCSAP training coordinator, where he has served until this time. During his tenure with the UHP, he was able to develop the state’s own version of the international NAIC.
West has served as the CVSA Region IV President, two terms, and as secretary and later chair of the Training Committee. He is currently part of the National Training Centers Master Instructor cadre, newly developed in July, and also assisted in the development and implementation of various training programs, including the new 2005 HOS, NAS Part A, NAS Part B & Level I Review courses offered through NTC. In addition, he has been involved in various recertification courses both as instructor and attendee.
Schaefer has more than 12 years of experience working in heavy truck safety and environmental policy as an industry representative, a federal regulator and as a consultant. For the past two years he worked with New West Technologies, an engineering and management consulting firm, supporting the U.S. Department of Energy’s 21st Century Truck Partnership. Prior to joining New West, he spent 8 years with the Truck Manufacturers Association, where he represented the major OEM truck manufacturers as a staff engineer and later as manager of Regulatory Affairs.
His work at TMA brought him in frequent contact with federal, state and provincial motor vehicle regulating agencies in both the United States and Canada. He also participated in the CVSA Vehicle Committee as a manufacturer representative for several years. Prior to working at TMA, he worked for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as a general engineer supporting heavy truck regulatory research and development, and for the American Trucking Associations, where he began his career in heavy trucks as an automotive engineer.
