CVSA Transitions to New Leadership for 2016-2017

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) transitioned to its new leadership for the 2016-2017 term on Sept. 21, 2016, at the CVSA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Julius Debuschewitz of Yukon Highways and Public Works is the new president of the Alliance. Capt. Christopher Turner of the Kansas Highway Patrol is CVSA’s vice president. Capt. Scott Carnegie of the Mississippi Highway Patrol was elected by the membership to the position of secretary. Maj. Jay Thompson of the Arkansas Highway Police is now the Alliance’s immediate past-president.

“I am proud to serve as CVSA’s new president,” said CVSA President Julius Debuschewitz. “This is an especially exciting time to step into the role as president with the recent completion of the Alliance’s new strategic plan for the future of the organization. I will work hard throughout my presidency to lead the organization during this time of positive and proactive transition.”

CVSA President Julius Debuschewitz is manager of National Safety Code, Transport Services, Highways and Public Works, Government of Yukon, Canada. Debuschewitz has been in the transportation field for 38 years and has worked in commercial vehicle compliance for the Transport Services Branch of Yukon Highways and Public Works for the past 22 years. He is a CVSA North American Standard Level I Part A and B instructor and a passenger vehicle instructor (motor coach) and serves on the Canadian Education Quality Assurance Team (EQAT), of which he is a founding member. Debuschewitz was also the vice chair of CVSA’s North American Inspectors Championship (NAIC).

CVSA Vice President Capt. Christopher Turner has served in law enforcement for 19 years and manages the Kansas Highway Patrol’s Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP), motor carrier inspectors fixed/mobile weight enforcement, reconstruction teams and the breath alcohol/drug recognition programs for Kansas. Capt. Turner has served as vice chair of CVSA’s Programs Initiatives Committee and vice chair of the Adjudicated Citations Ad Hoc Committee. Capt. Turner has moderated several technology forums for CVSA, such as the forum on connected vehicles, and served as a region member of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators’ (AAMVA) Law Enforcement Standing Committee and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Performance Standards, Measurements and Benchmarks Working Group.

CVSA Secretary Capt. Scott Carnegie has been with the Mississippi Highway Patrol for 23 years and is currently the director of the Motor Carrier Division. He leads multiple aspects of Mississippi’s commercial vehicle enforcement and operations programs which include: commercial driver’s license, information technology, compliance investigations, safety audits, outreach and enforcement operations. Capt. Carnegie also served as the CVSA Region II vice president on the CVSA Executive Committee. He served on a CVSA ad hoc committee on training-related issues and actively participated in strategic planning for the future of the Alliance.

Other Leadership Changes
Ross Batson with the Arkansas Highway Police is the new Region II president with Lt. Allen England with the Tennessee Highway Patrol serving as the Region II vice president. Richard Roberts of the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure will serve as Region V vice president. Ofc. Wes Bement of the Grand Prairie Texas Police Department was re-elected as the president and Ofc. Jason Belz of the Arlington (Texas) Police Department was elected vice president for local members. Jason Wing of Walmart Transportation Inc. was re-elected as president of the associate members and Dave Schofield of Oldcastle Materials was selected as vice president.

The new Size and Weight Committee chair is F/Sgt. Kenneth Snead with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol and the Vehicle Committee will be chaired by Tpr. John Sova with the North Dakota Highway Patrol. Two new committees met for the first time at this year’s annual conference – the Enforcement and Industry Modernization Committee and the Policy and Regulatory Affairs Committee. The Enforcement and Industry Modernization Committee will be chaired by Maj. Derek Barrs of the Florida Highway Patrol. The chair of the Policy and Regulatory Affairs Committee is Alan Martin with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.