Department of Transportation Expert Witnesses in South Dakota

Expert in rapid transit accident investigation, particularly rolling equipment and motive power, event recordings, track, operations, train handling, and human performance. He retired from the National Transportation Safety Board after 22 years as an investigator-in-charge in which time he participated in 57 major accident investigations, 32 field accident investigations, 10 public hearings, 16 depositions, and 6 special studies.  He wrote 11 major accident reports, 8 field accident reports, and personally conducted 10 sworn depositions. He was responsible for over 157 adopted NTSB safety recommendations in all facets of rail transportation. He previously worked for the Burlington Northern Railroad as a mechanical department manager. After his NTSB retirement, he became Assistant Vice President of Operations, Planning and Analysis for Rail Sciences Inc. As the son of a now 96-year old retired locomotive engineer who had 42 years of service, he grew up in a railroad family and became fascinated with trains and the rail industry, particularly safety.

This highly qualified transportation safety and compliance expert has been involved with trucking logistics for over 30 years. He earned a BS in history and political science from Vanderbilt University and an MS in personnel management from Troy State University. He is certified in homeland security and is a certified director of safety by the North American Transportation Management Institute. Formerly, this expert served as a logistics director and personnel manager for Wal-Mart, a corporate manager of DOT and fleet safety with Georgia Pacific Corporation, and the vice president of safety and compliance with Unisource Worldwide Inc. He went on to become a manager of safety and regulatory compliance at XATA Corporation before opening Haffenden Consulting where he was the owner and proprietor.Most recently, he served as the vice president of safety at CRST International before moving to his current role as a compliance strategy officer at a trucking logistics company in Iowa.