Truck Safety: Motor Carriers Office Hampered by Limited Information on
Causes of Crashes and Other Data Problems (Letter Report, 06/29/1999,
GAO/RCED-99-182).
Of the more than 42,00 people who died on the nation's highways in
1997--the latest year for which data are available--about 5,400 died in
crashes involving large trucks. This figure represents a 21-percent
increase from 1992, reversing a trend of decreasing truck fatalities
since the late 1980s. This recent increase in fatalities reflects, in
part, a 25-percent increase in the annual number of miles traveled by
large trucks since 1992. Although trucks are involved in fewer crashes
per mile traveled than are passenger vehicles, crashes involving trucks
are more likely to result in fatalities. In 1997, 98 percent of the
deaths from wrecks involving a truck and a passenger vehicle were
occupants of the passenger vehicles. Although no reliable nationwide
data exist on the causes of crashes involving large trucks, some data
indicate that passenger vehicle drivers' behavior is a significant
contributing factor to crashes. The Office of Motor Carrier and Highway
Safety plans to design and fund a study to obtain more detailed
information on factors that may contribute to crashes involving large
trucks. The Office has planned or undertaken several efforts to improve
truck safety. These steps include identifying high-risk carriers that
should be reviewed for compliance with safety regulations, educating
passenger vehicle drivers about how to share the road with large trucks,
and developing technology to alert truck drivers of the onset of
drowsiness. However, the Office's effectiveness is limited by (1)
long-standing data problems, (2) the length of time it takes to complete
activities, and (3) the unknown effect of its campaign to educate
passenger vehicle drivers about the limitations of large trucks.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: RCED-99-182
TITLE: Truck Safety: Motor Carriers Office Hampered by Limited
Information on Causes of Crashes and Other Data
Problems
DATE: 06/29/1999
SUBJECT: Highway safety
Transportation statistics
Public roads or highways
Safety regulation
Traffic accidents
Accident prevention
Motor vehicle safety
Trucking operations
IDENTIFIER: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System
OMCHS Performance and Registration Information Systems
Management Program
OMCHS Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Network
OMCHS SafeStat System
OMCHS No-Zone Campaign
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United States General Accounting Office GAO Report
to the Subcommittee on Transportation and Related Agencies,
Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives June 1999
TRUCK SAFETY Motor Carriers Office Hampered by Limited Information
on Causes of Crashes and Other Data Problems GAO/RCED-99-182
United States General Accounting Office
Resources, Community, and Washington, D.C. 20548
Economic Development Division B-281646
Letter June 29, 1999 The Honorable Frank R. Wolf Chairman,
Subcommittee on Transportation and Related Agencies Committee on
Appropriations House of Representatives Dear Mr. Chairman: Because
of your concern about the increasing numbers of fatalities from
crashes involving large commercial trucks (those trucks with a
gross weight of at least 10,001 pounds), you asked us to examine
the effectiveness of the Federal Highway Administration's Office
of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety in improving the safety of
large trucks. Specifically, we examined (1) recent trends in the
number of crashes involving large trucks, (2) the factors that
contribute to such crashes, and (3) the Office of Motor Carrier
and Highway Safety's activities to improve truck safety. Results
in Brief Of the more than 42,000 people who
died on our nation's highways in 1997 (the latest year for which
data are available), about 5,400 died in crashes involving large
trucks. This figure represents a 21-percent increase from 1992,
reversing a trend of decreasing truck fatalities from 1988 through
1992. In addition, from 1992 through 1997, the fatality rate-the
number of fatalities per 100 million miles traveled by large
trucks-has remained fairly constant at about 2.9 deaths per 100
million miles traveled after decreasing by 27 percent between 1988
and 1992. The recent increases in fatalities reflect, in part, a
25-percent increase in the annual number of miles traveled by
large trucks since 1992. If this trend of increasing truck travel
continues, the number of fatalities could increase to more than
5,800 in 1999. This estimated figure is substantially higher than
the goal that the Federal Highway Administration established for
1999 of reducing fatalities from truck crashes to below the 1996
level of 5,142. While trucks are involved in fewer crashes per
mile traveled than passenger vehicles, crashes involving trucks
are more likely to result in fatalities. In 1997, 98 percent of
the fatalities from crashes between a truck and a passenger
vehicle were occupants of the passenger vehicle. Letter
Page 1 GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's
Activities to Improve Safety B-281646 While no reliable nationwide
data exist on the causes of crashes involving large trucks, some
data exist on the extent to which factors such as drivers'
behavior, vehicles' mechanical condition, the roadway, and the
environment may contribute to these crashes. These data indicate
that passenger vehicle drivers' behavior is a significant
contributing factor to crashes. For example, in 1997,
contributing factors related to passenger vehicle drivers were
reported in 80 percent of crashes involving both trucks and
passenger vehicles (these data are based only on fatal truck
crashes and are not the result of thorough investigations of crash
scenes). To better tailor its activities to address the factors
that are most likely to contribute to truck crashes, the Office of
Motor Carrier and Highway Safety plans to design and fund a study
to obtain more detailed information on such factors. Because the
factors that contribute to crashes do not vary significantly from
year to year, the results of the study are estimated to be
relevant for about 15 years. The Office of Motor Carrier and
Highway Safety has undertaken a number of activities and plans to
undertake others to improve truck safety. These actions include
identifying high-risk carriers that should receive reviews of
their compliance with safety regulations, educating passenger
vehicle drivers about how to share the road with large trucks, and
developing technology to alert truck drivers of the onset of
drowsiness. While these activities address what are currently
considered to be significant contributing factors to truck
crashes, the Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety's
effectiveness is limited by (1) long-standing data problems, (2)
the length of time it takes to complete activities, and (3) the
unknown effect of its campaign to educate passenger vehicle
drivers about the limitations of large trucks. For example, the
Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety's effort to identify
high-risk carriers for safety improvements depends in part on
having reasonably complete data on the number of crashes
experienced by carriers. However, states did not report an
estimated 38 percent of all crashes and 30 percent of the fatal
crashes involving large trucks that should have been reported to
the Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety in 1997. The Office
has developed a draft safety action plan that describes 67
activities that it believes have the greatest potential to reduce
crashes and save lives. However, the results of these activities
will not be evident for several years. In addition, the draft plan
does not address whether the Department of Transportation has the
resources needed to complete all of the activities, nor does it
prioritize the 67 activities according to their potential to
improve truck safety. Letter Page 2 GAO/RCED-99-182
Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve Safety B-281646
Background The Department of Transportation (DOT) has stated
that safety has always been the agency's most important strategic
goal. The Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety (OMCHS),
within DOT's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), is responsible
for, among other things, the portion of this goal related to the
safety of interstate commercial motor vehicles. Under federal
motor carrier safety regulations, an interstate commercial motor
vehicle is one that is used to transport passengers or property
between states and (1) has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross
vehicle weight of at least 10,001 pounds, (2) is designed to
transport more than 15 passengers, or (3) is used to transport
hazardous materials that require the vehicle to be placarded.
OMCHS' activities include (1) issuing, administering, and
enforcing federal motor carrier safety regulations and hazardous
materials regulations; (2) gathering and analyzing data on motor
carriers, drivers, and vehicles; (3) developing information
systems to improve the transfer of data; and (4) researching new
methods and technologies to enhance motor carrier safety. OMCHS
conducts many of these activities in conjunction with other
federal agencies and states. For example, OMCHS provides grants
to states through the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program to
support statewide commercial motor vehicle safety programs. For
fiscal year 1999, federal funding for OMCHS totaled about $160
million, $90 million of which was for the Motor Carrier Safety
Assistance Program. The number of interstate commercial motor
carriers has grown rapidly during the past decade. According to
OMCHS' census of motor carriers, the number grew from 190,000 in
1989 to about 490,000 as of March 1999, about a 160-percent
increase. Most of these carriers are small businesses- about 70
percent of the carriers operate six or fewer trucks, while less
than 1 percent operate more than 1,000 trucks. The number of
vehicle miles traveled annually by large trucks increased from 148
billion miles in 1989 to 191 billion in 1997. Page 3
GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
Safety B-281646 Fatalities From Large The annual number
of fatalities from crashes involving large trucks Truck Crashes
Are increased by 21 percent from 4,462 in 1992 to
5,398 in 1997 (see fig. 1). This result reversed a trend of
decreasing truck fatalities in the previous 5-year Increasing,
While period, 1988 through 1992. Also from 1992
through 1997, the fatality rate- Fatalities per Mile
the number of fatalities per 100 million miles traveled by large
trucks-has Traveled Have Leveled remained fairly constant at
about 2.9 deaths per 100 million miles traveled after decreasing
by 27 percent between 1988 and 1992. Off Figure 1: Fatalities
From Large Truck Crashes and Fatality Rate, 1988-97 7,000
7 6,000
6 Fatalities 5,000
5 4,000
4 3,000
3 2,000
Fatality rate 2 (per 100 million truck miles
traveled) 1,000
1 0
0 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
1995 1996 1997 Source: DOT. While many factors may have
contributed to the recent increases in annual fatalities, the
upward trend in the number of fatalities reflects, in part,
increases in large truck and passenger vehicle travel.1 The
number of miles traveled by large trucks increased by 25 percent
from 1992 through 1997, while the number of miles traveled by
passenger vehicles increased by 13 percent. If truck travel
continues to increase at this rate, and nothing is done to reduce
the fatality rate, the annual number of fatalities could exceed
5,800 in 1999 and 6,000 in 2000 (see fig. 2). FHWA has
established a 1Passenger vehicles include cars, pickup trucks,
sport utility vehicles, and vans under 10,001 pounds (gross
vehicle weight rating). Page 4 GAO/RCED-99-182
Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve Safety B-281646 goal
for OMCHS for 1999 to reduce the number of fatalities from truck
crashes to fewer than 5,142-the number of fatalities in 1996.2
This goal is substantially below our projected figure of 5,847 for
1999. Figure 2: Actual and Projected Fatalities From Large Truck
Crashes, 1988-2000 Fatalities OMCHS' 1999 goal Sources: DOT for
1988 through 1997; GAO's estimate for 1998 through 2000. While the
recent increase in the number of fatalities from crashes involving
large trucks is a concern, only about 1 percent of all truck
crashes reported to police in 1997 resulted in a fatality. About
99 percent resulted in injuries or property damage only. The
number of people injured in truck crashes in 1997 (133,000) was
not significantly different from the number injured in 1988
(130,000). However, from 1988 through 1997, the number of
injuries per 100 million miles traveled fell from 92 to 69. In
addition, the annual number of crashes involving large trucks that
resulted in property damage only increased from 291,000 to
329,000, while the number of these crashes per 100 million miles
traveled decreased from 206 to 172. 2On May 25, 1999, DOT
announced a long-range goal of reducing fatalities from crashes
involving commercial vehicles, including large trucks, by 50
percent over 10 years. In the near future, DOT will develop a
strategy for achieving this goal and will include all affected
parties in its deliberations. Page 5 GAO/RCED-
99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve Safety B-
281646 In addition, for each mile that they traveled from 1988
through 1997, large trucks were involved in fewer total crashes
than passenger vehicles were. However, large trucks were involved
in a greater number of fatal crashes per mile traveled (see fig.
3). The higher fatal crash rate for large trucks is not
surprising, considering the difference in weight between passenger
vehicles and large trucks. When there is such a mismatch in
weight between the vehicles involved in a crash, the lighter one
and its occupants tend to suffer more damage. In fatal crashes
between a passenger vehicle and a large truck in 1997, 98 percent
of the fatalities were occupants of the passenger vehicle. Figure
3: Comparison of Fatal Crash Rates for Large Trucks and for
Passenger Vehicles, 1988-97 Fatal crash rate (per 100 million
vehicle miles traveled) Note: Rates for both categories include
crashes between trucks and passenger vehicles. Source: DOT. Page
6 GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's
Activities to Improve Safety B-281646 OMCHS Needs Better Current
information, while limited, indicates that passenger vehicle
drivers' Information on Factors behavior is a significant
contributing factor to crashes. OMCHS plans to design and fund a
study to obtain more detailed information on the factors That
Contribute to that are most likely to contribute
to truck crashes, and some states are Crashes Involving
beginning to conduct more in-depth investigations of truck crashes
to Large Trucks determine these factors.
Current Information Points While no reliable information exists
on the causes of crashes involving to Passenger Vehicle
large trucks nationwide, some information exists on factors that
may Drivers' Behavior as a contribute to these
crashes.3 These factors include (1) factors involving Significant
Contributing drivers, such as excessive speed, fatigue,
inattentiveness, and reckless driving; (2) factors related to
vehicles' condition, such as worn brakes, bald Factor to Truck
Crashes tires, and improperly secured loads; (3)
factors related to the road, such as the type of road and its
design; and (4) environmental factors, such as bad weather and
darkness.4 However, OMCHS does not know how many crashes are
related to each of these factors because existing databases do not
contain sufficiently complete information on contributing factors.
Without this information, OMCHS cannot effectively tailor its
activities to address the factors that are most likely to
contribute to truck crashes. One national database contains
information on factors that contribute to truck crashes: the
Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), maintained by DOT's
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Based on
many sources of data, including reports prepared by police
officers at crash scenes, FARS is considered a reliable source of
information on all fatal motor vehicle crashes. However, fatal
truck crashes represent only 1 percent of all truck crashes.
Furthermore, FARS does not rely on a thorough investigation of
crash scenes to pinpoint factors that contribute most heavily.
Despite its limitations, FARS has been used to estimate the number
of fatal crashes related to certain factors. Data from FARS
indicate that factors related to passenger vehicle drivers
contribute to more fatal crashes 3A contributing factor does not
necessarily identify fault or the cause of a crash; rather, the
presence of a contributing factor increases the likelihood of a
crash. 4In addition, characteristics of truck companies (such as
the form of ownership and company size), drivers' characteristics
(such as age, training, and experience), and types of cargo (such
as liquids) may be related to crash rates. Page 7
GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
Safety B-281646 between a passenger vehicle and a truck than do
factors related to truck drivers. In 1997, factors related to
passenger vehicle drivers were reported in 80 percent of the
crashes, while factors related to truck drivers were reported in
28 percent of the crashes. Safety groups have questioned the
validity of these data because truck drivers, who are more likely
to survive the crash than passenger vehicle drivers, have more
opportunities to tell the officer at the crash scene their version
of how the crash occurred. However, a recent study found that in
fatal crashes in 1994 and 1995 in which both the truck driver and
the passenger vehicle driver survived, factors related to
passenger vehicle drivers were cited in 74 percent of the crashes
compared with 35 percent for factors related to truck drivers.5
This finding provides some support for the hypothesis that,
compared with truck drivers, passenger vehicle drivers contribute
more to fatal crashes between large trucks and passenger vehicles.
On the basis of data from FARS and several studies involving in-
depth crash investigations, OMCHS estimates that another driver-
related factor--truck drivers' fatigue-contributes to 15 to 33
percent of the crashes that are fatal to the truck occupant(s)
only.6 (From 1992 through 1997, about 14 percent of all fatal
truck crashes were fatal to the truck occupant(s) only.) OMCHS
estimates that truck drivers' fatigue contributes to a much lower
percentage-from 1 to 2 percent-of the crashes that are fatal to
people other than truck occupants, such as passenger vehicle
occupants or pedestrians. The imprecision of these estimates
partly reflects the difficulty of detecting drivers' fatigue after
crashes occur. Despite this difficulty, fatigue was identified as
the number one issue affecting the safety of motor carriers during
a 1995 meeting on safety attended by representatives from
government, trucking associations, and safety interest groups.
Some information also exists on the extent to which other major
factors- vehicles, the road, and the environment-contribute to
truck crashes. First, according to estimates in several studies,
the percentage of truck crashes that are attributed to vehicles'
mechanical failure ranges from 5 to 13 percent but could be up to
20 percent for crashes in which the truck 5Daniel Blower, The
Relative Contribution of Truck Drivers and Passenger Vehicle
Drivers to Truck-Passenger Vehicle Traffic Crashes, The University
of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, Mich.
(1998). 6Crash Problem Size Assessment Update: Large Truck
Crashes Related Primarily to Driver Fatigue, Office of Motor
Carrier and Highway Safety (Jan. 1999). Page 8
GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
Safety B-281646 driver is found at fault. Second, noninterstate
roads have more crashes per mile traveled than interstate highways
because the latter are designed with more safety features such as
median barriers and controlled access. Approximately 76 percent of
the fatalities in fatal crashes involving large trucks occurred on
noninterstate roads in 1997, compared to 59 percent of all truck
miles of travel on these roads. Finally, environmental factors-
such as snow or darkness-can contribute to crashes. OMCHS Is
Initiating an Because of the lack of sufficiently
complete and precise information on Effort to Improve
factors that contribute to crashes, OMCHS recently began to design
a Information on Factors That database that contains more
detailed information on these factors. Contribute to Truck Crashes
OMCHS plans to provide funding to NHTSA to collect data on a
national sample of crashes involving large trucks, including
crashes resulting in fatalities, injuries, and serious property
damage only. OMCHS estimates that the database would take 2 to 3
years to complete, at a cost of $2 million to $3 million. The
American Automobile Association (AAA) recently proposed a
separate, but similar, study to be designed by the Transportation
Research Board.7 AAA believes that its approach allows the widest
possible input from the traffic safety and trucking communities,
while providing scientific objectivity and technical expertise.
As in OMCHS' study, AAA is proposing that NHTSA conduct the crash
investigations and collect the data. AAA estimates that the study
would take from 3 to 5 years, at a cost of about $5 million.
According to OMCHS officials, the agency has begun work on its
study and may modify its original plans by including input from
other groups, such as research groups, during the design phase.
Because the factors that contribute to crashes do not vary
significantly from year to year, the results of the study are
estimated to be relevant for about 15 years. Some states are also
beginning to examine more closely the factors that contribute to
truck crashes. In fiscal year 1998, every state submitted an
annual commercial vehicle safety plan to OMCHS that included the
state's goals for improving truck safety and the activities the
state will use to meet those goals. Several states plan to
conduct in-depth crash investigations to determine the prevalence
of different contributing factors. OMCHS developed a common
format for conducting these investigations and is encouraging the
states to use this format so that the data collected by 7Part of
the National Research Council, the Transportation Research Board
is a private nonprofit institution that conducts research
addressing all modes and aspects of transportation. Page 9
GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
Safety B-281646 various states will be compatible. Michigan is
currently the only state known by OMCHS to be implementing this
format. In addition, OMCHS has developed a training course on
investigating large truck crashes, which will be available to
state police officers. The data collected by the police officers
will be reported to OMCHS. OMCHS' Effectiveness OMCHS has
undertaken or plans to undertake activities intended to Is
Hampered by Data improve truck safety, such as
identifying high-risk trucking companies for reviews of their
compliance with safety regulations, educating passenger Problems
and the Time vehicle drivers about how to share the road with
large trucks, and Needed to Complete conducting
research on methods to alert truck drivers when they are
Activities becoming fatigued. While these
activities-undertaken either directly or through grants provided
to states-address what are currently considered to be significant
factors contributing to truck crashes, many other factors affect
the level of truck safety.8 However, OMCHS' effectiveness is
limited by (1) long-standing problems with the data it uses to
identify high-risk carriers; (2) the length of time to complete
activities, including rulemaking; and (3) the unknown effect of
OMCHS' campaign to educate passenger vehicle drivers about the
limitations of large trucks. OMCHS has developed a draft safety
action plan that includes these and many other activities to
improve truck safety, but it has not determined whether it has the
resources required to complete them all nor which activities have
the greatest potential for improving truck safety. Insufficient
Data Limit Each year, OMCHS and state inspectors
conduct thousands of on-site OMCHS' Ability to Target
reviews of motor carriers' compliance with federal safety
regulations, High-Risk Carriers and known as
compliance reviews. To identify high-risk carriers for these
States' Ability to Develop reviews, OMCHS uses a "safety
status" measurement system known as SafeStat. SafeStat relies
heavily on data from OMCHS' management and Implement Safety Plans
information system to rank motor carriers on the basis of four
factors: (1) crashes, (2) drivers' performance, (3) vehicles'
mechanical condition, and (4) safety management. The first factor
is given twice the weight of the other factors because carriers
that have been in crashes are considered more likely to be
involved in crashes in the future. Carriers that are ranked
8Other factors that affect truck safety that OMCHS does not
directly influence include highway design standards, passenger
vehicles' handling and crashworthiness characteristics, traffic
congestion, local traffic laws and enforcement, and state
initiatives. Page 10 GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor
Carriers Office's Activities to Improve Safety B-281646 in the
worst 25 percent of all carriers for three or more factors or for
the first factor plus one other factor are targeted for a
compliance review. However, SafeStat's ability to accurately
target high-risk carriers is limited because state officials do
not report a large percentage of crashes involving large trucks to
OMCHS' information system. For 1997, OMCHS estimated that states
did not report about 38 percent of all reportable crashes and 30
percent of the fatal crashes involving large trucks.9
Furthermore, 10 states reported fewer than 50 percent of the fatal
crashes occurring within their borders, including 4 states that
reported fewer than 10 percent. Because OMCHS does not receive
information on a large percentage of crashes, carriers that have
been involved in a substantial number of crashes may go undetected
by SafeStat. According to OMCHS officials, states do not report
all crashes in part because (1) some states have no legislative
requirement for police departments to submit reports on crashes to
state officials, (2) state agencies in charge of collecting the
data for OMCHS must rely on numerous local jurisdictions and other
agencies to provide the data, and (3) state employees who submit
crash data to OMCHS may not have sufficient training or incentives
to report data completely and in a timely manner. According to
OMCHS officials, providing training to employees and financial
incentives to states to report crashes should improve crash
reporting, as was the case for Mississippi. The state reported
only 1 of 99 fatal crashes involving large trucks that occurred
within its borders in 1997. According to OMCHS officials, the
state used one-time incentive funds from OMCHS to hire two
employees in 1998 dedicated to collecting data on truck crashes
and reporting these data to OMCHS. This resulted in increased
reporting. From September 1998 through March 1999, Mississippi
reported 1,657 crashes involving large trucks to OMCHS. In
comparison, from September 1997 through March 1998, the state
reported 46 crashes. NHTSA spends about $5 million annually for
FARS to (1) provide funds to all states to collect, interpret, and
enter data into the database; (2) maintain the database; and (3)
train field staff to ensure consistent coding and interpretation.
The cost for OMCHS to set up a similar system could be greater
because the Office would need to collect data on a greater number
of crashes. For example, in 1997 there were an 9For OMCHS'
purposes, a reportable crash must result in a fatality, an injury
for which the person is taken to a medical facility, or the towing
of one vehicle from the scene. Page 11 GAO/RCED-
99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve Safety B-
281646 estimated 150,000 truck crashes that should have been
reported to OMCHS, compared with about 37,000 fatal crashes
reported to NHTSA. SafeStat's ability to target high-risk carriers
is also limited by out-of-date census data. SafeStat uses these
census data-such as the number of trucks operated or vehicle miles
traveled by each carrier-to normalize safety data. For example,
SafeStat checks the number of crashes reported for a carrier
against the number of trucks operated by the carrier to determine
if the number of crashes is disproportionately high. However, in
the majority of states, interstate carriers are required to file
census data with OMCHS only once-when they initially go into
business. After that, the census data are updated generally only
when OMCHS or states conduct compliance reviews at the carriers'
facilities. Each year from 1993 through 1997, these reviews were
conducted for fewer than 4 percent of the carriers known to OMCHS,
whose numbers increased from 275,000 to more than 415,000 over the
period. Concern over the quality of OMCHS' data is not new. In
1991 and 1997, we reported that DOT needed to improve the quality
of its data to improve its data analysis capabilities.10 The ICC
Termination Act of 1995 required DOT to create an information
system to consolidate information on motor carriers, such as
census data and insurance and tax information, which carriers will
be required to update every year. However, this information
system is not expected to be operational until late in 2001. As we
reported in 1997, states have improved the timeliness of reporting
the results of the roadside inspections, compliance reviews, and
crashes that are used by SafeStat. However, states are still not
meeting OMCHS' reporting deadlines. OMCHS' December 1996 guidance
to states requires that they report the results of roadside
inspections and compliance reviews within 21 days and crashes
within 90 days. As shown in table 1, states improved the
timeliness of reporting data to OMCHS from fiscal year 1997 to
fiscal year 1998 but were missing the Office's deadlines by an
average of 8 to 16 days. Overall, 38 states exceeded OMCHS'
deadline for reporting inspections, 25 states exceeded the
deadline for reporting compliance reviews, and 21 states exceeded
the deadline for reporting crashes in 1998. To improve timeliness,
OMCHS began distributing monthly reports to 10Freight Trucking:
Promising Approach for Predicting Carriers' Safety Risks
(GAO/PEMD-91-13, Apr. 4, 1991) and Commercial Motor Carriers: DOT
Is Shifting to Performance-Based Standards to Assess Whether
Carriers Operate Safely (GAO/RCED-98-8, Nov. 3, 1997). Page 12
GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
Safety B-281646 states in 1997 and issued a notice of proposed
rulemaking on March 9, 1999, to modify the formula used to
distribute grants to states to include incentives for, among other
things, reporting on time. Table 1: Average Number of Days to
Report Results of Roadside Inspections, Compliance Reviews, and
Crashes to OMCHS, Fiscal Years 1996-98 Difference between
Reporting 1998 average and reporting Average number of days
to report to OMCHS deadline
deadline 1996 1997 1998 Roadside
inspections 49 47
37 21 16 Compliance
reviews 35 41
29 21 8 Crashes
195 120 102 90
12 Note: The reporting deadline was established during fiscal
year 1997. Source: GAO's analysis of OMCHS' data. Data problems
also exist at the state level. In fiscal year 1998, all states
submitted performance-based safety plans to OMCHS for the first
time. Under these plans, states must identify areas that need
improvement, such as sections of highways where a disproportionate
number of crashes involving large trucks have occurred, and
develop a plan for improving those areas. In a pilot program to
implement performance-based plans, 5 of 13 pilot states reported
that they lacked sufficient or timely data to accurately identify
areas that need improvement. Furthermore, according to OMCHS
officials, insufficient data-on such things as the number of
trucks a carrier operates to help states focus their safety
education programs for carriers-have also been a problem for some
states once they have identified problem areas and are developing
improvement plans. To assist states in improving their data,
OMCHS distributed a list of data sources to them. Some Important
Activities While OMCHS' activities have the
potential to improve large truck safety, it to Improve Large Truck
will be several years before the results of some important
activities are Safety Are Years From seen. For
example, OMCHS is conducting research on truck drivers' Completion
drowsiness, including research on a device that would detect
drowsiness by measuring a truck driver's degree of eye closure.
However, this device is not likely to be operational for several
years. Similarly, following a study conducted in 1988 and updated
in 1997, which found that new motor Page 13
GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
Safety B-281646 carriers have lower rates of compliance with
federal motor carrier regulations, OMCHS plans to create a pilot
program to ensure the safety fitness of these carriers. While the
pilot program is expected to be completed by 2003, it will not be
expanded to all states until several years later, assuming it is
successful. OMCHS is also currently implementing the Performance
and Registration Information Systems Management (PRISM) Program to
link safety information on motor carriers to state-level motor
vehicle registration and licensing systems. The Intermodal
Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 required a pilot for
this program, and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st
Century in 1998 expanded the program. PRISM is intended to (1)
determine the safety fitness of individual motor carriers during
the registration process and deny registration to any carrier that
is under an "operations out of service order" from OMCHS11 and (2)
identify high-risk carriers (via SafeStat) to be placed in a
performance-based improvement process that begins with a warning
letter and could result in eventual revocation of vehicle
registration privileges. According to an OMCHS official, this
program was implemented as a pilot program in five states from
1995 through 1997 and has since been implemented in six additional
states. At a projected implementation rate of about four new
states per year, the program will not be available in all states
before 2008. OMCHS is also deploying an information systems
architecture-the Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and
Networks (CVISN)-that will allow dissimilar federal, state, and
carrier systems to exchange information electronically. The
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century directed the
Secretary of Transportation to deploy CVISN in a majority of
states by September 30, 2003. From 1999 through 2003, OMCHS plans
to pilot test CVISN in 10 states, develop system designs for 30
additional states, and deploy CVISN in at least 16 of those
states. OMCHS plans to complete the deployment of CVISN in all
states by 2005. In March 1999, OMCHS distributed a draft safety
action plan for review and comment by FHWA field offices, the
safety community, and the trucking industry. Of the approximately
200 activities that OMCHS officials estimate the Office has under
way or is undertaking from 1999 through 2003, including those
above, 67 activities are in the plan because the Office 11An
operations out of service order is issued when a carrier is found
to have safety problems so severe and urgent that its operation
must be closed immediately until the problems are corrected. Page
14 GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's
Activities to Improve Safety B-281646 considers them important to
reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities. The plan includes
OMCHS' recently initiated effort to evaluate the effectiveness of
its major programs to determine their impacts on truck safety,
establish goals that will enable the Office to link its activities
to improvements in truck safety, and recommend improvements to
make the activities more effective. OMCHS intends to finalize the
draft plan in July 1999. The draft safety action plan is organized
to show where the likely impacts of completed safety initiatives
will lie, such as with carriers, drivers, and/or vehicles.
However, it does not specify how OMCHS intends to carry out the
draft plan or which activities have the greatest potential to
reduce the number of crashes and save lives. It also does not
address whether OMCHS has the resources, either in terms of
funding or staff, to undertake and complete all of these
initiatives. Such an assessment is particularly important because
the 67 activities represent only about one-third of the activities
OMCHS has undertaken or plans to undertake. FHWA Is Reviewing Its
Safety advocates and trucking industry representatives have
criticized Rulemaking Process to OMCHS for taking too long to
issue safety rules. The rulemaking process in Improve Timeliness
itself takes a certain amount of time due to the need to adhere to
various statutory and administrative requirements. However, the
length of OMCHS' rulemaking process may be aggravated, in part, by
the complexity and contentiousness of some motor carrier issues
and the quality of the rules that OMCHS develops. FHWA officials
explained that rules-including those with statutorily mandated
deadlines-that are extremely complex or contentious tend to take
longer to issue. For example, the ICC Termination Act of 1995
required the Secretary of Transportation to consolidate four
sources of information on motor carriers, such as the DOT
identification number and financial responsibility information
systems, into a single information system. This new system is
intended to serve as a clearinghouse and depository of
information-including information on safety fitness-on all foreign
and domestic motor carriers and others required to register with
DOT. The act required the Secretary to issue a final rule on this
information system by January 1, 1998. OMCHS issued an advance
notice of proposed rulemaking in August 1996 and expects to issue
a notice of proposed rulemaking by September 1999, followed by a
final rule by December 2000-nearly 3 years after its directed
date. OMCHS estimates that the system will be operational about 1
year after the final rule. In addition to the difficulty of
consolidating the various systems, an OMCHS official Page 15
GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
Safety B-281646 explained that another reason for the delay in the
rulemaking is the act's provision that states not lose revenue
compared to that in 1995 as a result of replacing the old
independent systems with the new consolidated system. The ICC
Termination Act of 1995 also required FHWA to modify the existing
rule concerning hours of service for drivers of commercial motor
vehicles to incorporate methods for reducing fatigue-related
incidents such as crashes. The act required FHWA to issue an
advance notice of proposed rulemaking by March 1, 1996; this
notice was issued on November 5, 1996. The act also required a
proposed rule within 1 year after the advance notice and a final
rule within 2 years after that 1-year deadline. According to
OMCHS, revisions to this rule are difficult and extremely
contentious. Therefore, FHWA is currently considering the use of a
"negotiated rulemaking" process in which a committee-including
truck drivers, motor carriers, and safety advocacy groups-develops
the rule. Through this process, the views of interested parties
can be incorporated in the proposed rule, thereby reducing the
number of comments and time needed to issue the final rule. If
FHWA conducts a negotiated rulemaking, it expects to issue a
proposed rule by March 2000; otherwise, it expects to issue a
proposed rule in September 1999. According to DOT officials
involved in all stages of the rulemaking process (including
officials from the Office of the Secretary, FHWA's Office of the
Chief Counsel, and OMCHS), the length of time OMCHS has taken to
issue rules is also due in part to the inexperience of and
insufficient training for OMCHS staff who develop the rules. FHWA
has recognized that more attention needs to be paid to the
development of rules because rules that are insufficiently
analyzed or poorly written require more time in the review
process. In addition, rules that are classified by FHWA as
"significant"-such as rules that will have a significant impact on
the public or state or local governments, that are costly, or that
are controversial- must be reviewed and approved by the Office of
the Secretary, while other rules are approved by the Administrator
of FHWA. This difference is important for OMCHS because about
half of its rules in process (29 of 57) as of April 1999 were
classified as significant, therefore requiring additional review.
As part of a DOT-wide effort, FHWA is examining its rulemaking
process to identify ways to streamline the process and has
identified several areas for improvement. FHWA is considering
actions such as (1) preparing guidance on the rulemaking process,
(2) providing training for employees that develop rules, and (3)
recommending that DOT revise its Page 16 GAO/RCED-99-182
Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve Safety B-281646
procedures to limit the number of regulatory proposals requiring
review by the Office of the Secretary and expediting those that
undergo such review. Effectiveness of OMCHS' Because factors
related to passenger vehicle drivers often contribute to Campaign
to Educate fatal crashes between large trucks and
passenger vehicles, OMCHS Passenger Vehicle Drivers launched
the "No-Zone" campaign in 1994. This campaign is intended to
About the Limitations of reduce crashes between large trucks
and passenger vehicles by educating passenger vehicle drivers
about how to safely share the road with large Large Trucks Is
Unknown trucks and about trucks' limitations, such as
reduced maneuverability, longer stopping distances, and blind
spots (the No Zone). The campaign's public education efforts
include public service announcements via radio, television, and
print; brochures; posters; and decals on large trucks. According
to OMCHS and NHTSA officials, the success of this type of
educational campaign depends, in part, on maintaining a
consistently high level of public exposure to convey the message.
The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century directed the
Secretary of Transportation to obligate $500,000 in fiscal years
1998 through 2003 for this type of effort out of funds made
available for certain activities carried out by NHTSA. However,
according to OMCHS and NHTSA officials, the No-Zone campaign did
not receive these funds in fiscal year 1998 because the funds for
these activities had already been committed by the time the act
was passed in June 1998. While OMCHS had sufficient funds to
maintain the No-Zone campaign activities throughout fiscal year
1998, it was not able to develop new advertisements for the 1999
spring through fall travel period. OMCHS has not determined to
what extent, if any, the No-Zone campaign has contributed to
changing passenger vehicle drivers' behavior and reducing crashes
between large trucks and passenger vehicles. OMCHS has conducted
focus groups with high school students and plans to conduct a
national telephone survey within the next year to determine the
level of public recognition of the No-Zone campaign; however, the
survey will not measure whether passenger vehicle drivers'
behavior has changed. OMCHS is also exploring the possibility of
developing indicators of changes in passenger vehicle drivers'
behavior by requesting changes to vehicle citation codes to allow
police officers to cite drivers for unsafe driving practices-
including those in the vicinity of large trucks. For example, an
officer could cite a passenger vehicle driver for changing lanes
in front of a truck and then braking suddenly. Page 17
GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
Safety B-281646 Conclusions The Office of
Motor Carrier and Highway Safety has not been effective in
reducing fatalities resulting from crashes involving large trucks
because, among other things, it knows too little about the causes
of crashes or the factors that contribute to them and because it
has not corrected long-standing problems with the information it
uses, such as information that identifies high-risk carriers. As
a result, the Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety cannot
tell whether it is allocating its efforts in line with the most
serious problems it seeks to address. The Office of Motor Carrier
and Highway Safety is developing a draft safety action plan that
could help it better understand the causes of crashes, improve the
information it uses to address safety problems, and lead to safety
improvements through other means. The draft plan identifies 67
activities that the Office believes are most important for
improving truck safety out of an estimated 200 activities that it
has under way. While the draft plan is subject to change, the 67
activities represent a significant undertaking, but the Office has
not determined which of these activities are most likely to lead
to a reduced number of crashes and deaths or whether it can
complete all the planned activities in a timely manner with
available resources, both budgetary and human. Recommendation
We recommend to the Secretary of Transportation that the
Department prioritize the activities in the Office of Motor
Carrier and Highway Safety's safety action plan according to their
potential for reducing the number of crashes and deaths and, to
ensure that the activities are completed in a timely manner, only
undertake those that the Office is reasonably sure it can complete
within available budgetary and human resources. Agency Comments
and DOT provided comments on a draft of this report. (See app.
I.) DOT Our Evaluation agreed with the contents
of the report, stating that it provided a balanced discussion of
areas needing improvement and the agency's efforts to improve the
commercial vehicle safety program. DOT also stated that (1)
definitive data are lacking on causes of crashes for all types of
motor vehicles, not just trucks, and the Department is working to
improve data quality; (2) the Department has recently requested
additional funds to improve data collection, enforcement, and
technology enhancement programs; and (3) No-Zone campaign
information is now provided in 34 state drivers' licensing manuals
and evidence from a focus group of high school students indicated
that the campaign has had a positive effect on the Page 18
GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
Safety B-281646 students' driving behavior. Regarding the first
comment, we recognize that the lack of definitive crash causation
data is a problem that relates to all motor vehicles; however,
until causation data on truck crashes is improved, DOT will be
hampered in improving truck safety. Regarding the second comment,
although DOT has requested additional funds to improve several of
the problems we identified in our report, this request will be
considered by the Congress along with other budget requests.
Depending on available resources, DOT may have to find other
solutions to improving its programs, including prioritizing its
activities according to their potential for reducing crashes.
Finally, while DOT has some indication that the No-Zone campaign
is reaching a large number of people, it has not yet evaluated the
effectiveness of the campaign by determining the extent to which
drivers' behavior has actually changed. DOT did not comment on
the recommendation in our draft report. Scope and To identify
trends in crashes involving large trucks, we reviewed data from
Methodology 1988 through 1997 (the most recent data available)
from NHTSA and FHWA. In estimating the number of fatalities from
crashes involving large trucks for 1998 through 2000, we (1)
assumed that the fatality rate would remain at the 1997 level of
2.8 fatalities per 100 million truck miles traveled, (2) used the
best-fit, least-squares regression trend line for the number of
truck miles traveled from 1992 through 1997 to project the truck
miles traveled for 1998 through 2000, and (3) multiplied the
projected number of truck miles traveled for each year by the
fatality rate of 2.8 per 100 million miles traveled. To determine
the factors that contribute to crashes involving large trucks, we
reviewed data from FARS. We also interviewed officials and
reviewed documentation from OMCHS, the National Transportation
Safety Board, AAA, and the University of Michigan Transportation
Research Institute. To examine OMCHS' activities to improve truck
safety, we interviewed officials and reviewed documentation from
DOT (including OMCHS, FHWA, NHTSA, and the Office of General
Counsel), the National Transportation Safety Board, the Commercial
Vehicle Safety Alliance, American Trucking Associations, the
National Private Trucking Council, Advocates for Highway and Auto
Safety, and Public Citizen. We performed our work from December
1998 through May 1999 in accordance with generally accepted
government auditing standards. Page 19 GAO/RCED-99-182
Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve Safety B-281646 We
are sending copies of this report to congressional committees and
subcommittees responsible for transportation issues; the Honorable
Rodney E. Slater, Secretary of Transportation; the Honorable Jacob
Lew, Director, Office of Management and Budget; and other
interested parties. We will make copies available to others upon
request. If you or your staff have any questions about this
report, please contact me at (202) 512-3650. Major contributors
to this report were Jennifer Clayborne, David Goldstein, James
Ratzenberger, and Sara Vermillion. Sincerely yours, Phyllis F.
Scheinberg Associate Director, Transportation Issues Page 20
GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
Safety Page 21 GAO/RCED-99-182 Motor Carriers Office's
Activities to Improve Safety Appendix I Comments From the
Department of Transportation
Appendix I Page 22 GAO/RCED-99-182 Moter Carriers Office's
Activities to Improve Safety Appendix I Comments From the
Department of Transportation (348140) Letter Page 23
GAO/RCED-99-182 Moter Carriers Office's Activities to Improve
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