As Congress looks for ways to cut the federal budget and deficit, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance warned a Congressional committee that funding commercial motor vehicle safety programs at lower than current levels would weaken state enforcement efforts. As a result, enforcement would be unable to maintain the progress that has been made and large truck-related injuries and deaths could tick upwards.


"We are finally heading in the right direction with a downward trend in heavy truck fatalities. With the economy picking up and highway traffic increasing, I don't believe we could continue that trend if the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP) and state safety grant funds are cut," said Capt. Steve Dowling, president of CVSA. Dowling was speaking before the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, during a two-day hearing this week on the reauthorization of the nation's surface transportation programs.

CVSA urged Congress to continue to focus funds on enhancing the MCSAP, as there is FMCSA data indicating that roadside inspections and traffic enforcement have a clear and substantial safety benefit, and are providing a tremendous return on the investment of tax dollars.

"Through targeted investments we can improve upon our successes and provide the necessary tools for enhancing enforcement's ability to remove the unsafe operators from the road," said Dowling. "We recommend making the safety grant programs more flexible and streamlining the administrative and delivery processes to reflect the reality of today."

Dowling outlined a number of areas to enhance motor carrier safety and recommendations for streamlining and providing a razor focus to programs. These recommendations included: Flexibility and Streamlining of Motor Carrier Safety Grant Programs; Maintenance of Effort (MOE); Bus Safety; Carrier Exemptions from Motor Carrier Safety Regulations; Truck Size and Weight; Motor Carrier Safety Technologies; and, Carrier Registration, Credentialing and Data Integrity.

Approximately 75 percent of all large truck fatalities are multi-vehicle crashes between cars and large trucks, and flexibility in the use of funds is critical to effectively targeting the problems.

Some regions need to focus on the crashes caused by drivers following too closely, speeding, and unsafe lane changes by both the car and the truck or bus. In rural areas, the crash picture is heavily influenced by fatigued driving. States should have the flexibility that would allow them to focus the necessary resources on what problems they are experiencing.

Tying into this is the MOE requirement for MCSAP, a formula provided for in SAFETEA-LU, which currently operates as a disincentive to states to expand existing programs and create new and innovative approaches to motor carrier safety. CVSA recommended the MOE formula be tied to a stationary period, specifically three fiscal periods preceding the enactment of the Motor Carrier Improvement Act of 1999 and indexed for inflation.

To address the number of recent, high-profile bus-related crashes, CVSA recommends the removal of the current restriction in SAFETEA-LU prohibiting roadside bus inspections except in the case of an imminent or obvious safety hazard. States need the ability to inspect buses randomly just as they do trucks, which currently they are not able to do. Lifting this prohibition alone could avert many potential crashes by allowing enforcement to be more proactive. FMCSA also should study whether the current hours-of-service rules for motorcoach operators are adequate, and, if warranted, propose changes for motorcoach operations.

Uniformity in enforcement is key to successfully driving down CMV-related deaths. Whether it is a bus or a utility service truck, uniform and consistent inspections need to be reinforced. Increasingly, however, more exemptions are being enacted through the statutory and regulatory processes. For example, SAFETEA-LU provided HOS exemptions for utility service drivers and agricultural transporters. Data from FMCSA indicates that in these two sectors their safety performance has declined, and this cannot be tolerated.

CVSA said it realizes there is an interest in improving truck productivity and the first step should be to conduct a comprehensive truck size and weight study. Increasing productivity should not come at the expense of safety and bridge and infrastructure protection.