Commercial Motor Vehicles: Significant Actions Remain to Improve Truck
Safety (Testimony, 03/02/2000, GAO/T-RCED-00-102).

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the efforts being
undertaken by the Department of Transportation's (DOT) newly established
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to reduce the number of
large truck-related fatalities.

GAO noted that: (1) DOT has not yet developed a comprehensive strategy
to achieve its goal of reducing large truck-related fatalities by 50
percent by 2009; (2) although the motor carrier administration has
developed a draft Safety Action Plan to serve as its blueprint for
achieving this goal, it has not determined the degree to which specific
actions, or sets of related actions, in the plan would measurably
improve motor carrier safety; (3) DOT has not fully implemented the
recommendation GAO made in June 1999 to prioritize individual
initiatives contained in its draft Safety Action Plan according to their
potential for reducing truck-related fatalities; (4) DOT has not adopted
GAO's recommendation to determine whether it can reasonably expect to
accomplish all the actions in its draft plan with its expected budgetary
and human resources; (5) GAO believes that developing a comprehensive,
prioritized strategy is necessary, especially because of the magnitude
of reductions in truck-related fatalities that DOT hopes to achieve; (6)
DOT has made some progress on activities to improve truck and commercial
passenger vehicle safety; (7) to meet the requirements of the Motor
Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999, DOT established a new
organizational structure to place greater focus on enforcement and
compliance with motor carrier safety regulations; it also has
established a separate division for commercial passenger vehicle safety;
(8) over the past year, DOT has conducted more compliance reviews and
assessed more civil penalties for violations of truck safety
regulations; (9) DOT has also made some progress in obtaining the
crash-related data that it needs to make informed decisions about the
actions most likely to improve truck safety; and (10) it will be
important for DOT to demonstrate that it can follow through on these
efforts over the long term to meet the Secretary's goal of reducing
large truck-related fatalities.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-RCED-00-102
     TITLE:  Commercial Motor Vehicles: Significant Actions Remain to
	     Improve Truck Safety
      DATE:  03/02/2000
   SUBJECT:  Highway safety
	     Transportation statistics
	     Public roads or highways
	     Traffic accidents
	     Safety regulation
	     Safety standards
	     Trucking operations
	     Accident prevention
	     Strategic planning
	     Motor vehicle safety
IDENTIFIER:  OMCHS Performance and Registration Information Systems
	     Management Program
	     DOT Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks
	     Program

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Testimony

Before the Subcommittee on Transportation and Related Agencies, Committee on
Appropriations, House of Representatives

For Release
on Delivery
Expected at
10:00 a.m. EST
Thursday
March 2, 2000

COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES

Significant Actions Remain to Improve Truck Safety

Statement of Phyllis F. Scheinberg, Associate Director,
Transportation Issues, Resources, Community, and
Economic Development Division

GAO/T-RCED-00-102

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:

Typically, about 5,000 people die each year in truck-related crashes. This
Subcommittee and others have been critical of the Department of
Transportation's (DOT) progress in reducing this death toll. In May 1999, in
part as a response to this concern, the Secretary of Transportation
announced a goal of reducing these fatalities by 50 percent over a 10-year
period, 2000 through 2009.

I am here today primarily to discuss the efforts being undertaken by DOT's
newly established Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (motor carrier
administration) to reduce the number of large truck-related fatalities. At
your request, I will also talk about similar efforts to improve the safety
of commercial passenger vehicles, including buses and vans. The information
in my testimony is based on our ongoing work for this Subcommittee.
Specifically, I will discuss the motor carrier administration's progress in
(1) developing an overall strategy to reduce large truck-related fatalities
by 50 percent by 2009 and (2) carrying out its safety activities for large
trucks and commercial passenger vehicles.

In summary:

   * The Department has not yet developed a comprehensive strategy to
     achieve its goal of reducing large truck-related fatalities by 50
     percent by 2009. First, although the motor carrier administration has
     developed a draft Safety Action Plan to serve as its blueprint for
     achieving this goal, it has not determined the degree to which specific
     actions, or sets of related actions, in the plan would measurably
     improve motor carrier safety. Second, the Department has not fully
     implemented the recommendation we made in June 1999 to prioritize
     individual initiatives contained in its draft Safety Action Plan
     according to their potential for reducing truck-related fatalities.
     Finally, DOT has not adopted our recommendation to determine whether it
     can reasonably expect to accomplish all the actions in its draft plan
     with its expected budgetary and human resources. For example, motor
     carrier administration officials told us that an initiative that will
     provide states with the information needed to suspend or revoke
     registration for motor carriers with poor safety performance might not
     meet its 2003 implementation goal, in part, because of a lack of staff
     devoted to the effort. We believe that developing a comprehensive,
     prioritized strategy is necessary, especially because of the magnitude
     of reductions in truck-related fatalities that DOT hopes to achieve.

   * Since we appeared before this Subcommittee a year ago, DOT has made
     some progress on activities to improve truck and commercial passenger
     vehicle safety. To meet the requirements of the Motor Carrier Safety
     Improvement Act of 1999, DOT established a new organizational structure
     to place greater focus on enforcement and compliance with motor carrier
     safety regulations; it also has established a separate division for
     commercial passenger vehicle safety. Moreover, over the past year, DOT
     has conducted more compliance reviews and assessed more civil penalties
     for violations of truck safety regulations. (Compliance reviews are
     on-site reviews of motor carriers' compliance with federal safety
     regulations.) DOT has also made some progress in obtaining the
     crash-related data that it needs to make informed decisions about the
     actions most likely to improve truck safety. It will be important for
     the Department to demonstrate that it can follow through on these
     efforts over the long term to meet the Secretary's goal of reducing
     large truck-related fatalities.

Background

In 1998, 5,374 people died on our nation's roads from crashes involving
large trucks. (See fig. 1.) The number of fatalities is slightly less than
the 5,398 truck-related fatalities in 1997, but it is still 20 percent
higher than in 1992. In addition, the fatality rate-the number of fatalities
per 100 million miles traveled by large trucks-has remained fairly constant
over the past several years at about 2.8 deaths per 100 million miles
traveled after decreasing by over 20 percent between 1989 and 1992.

Source: DOT.

The number of fatalities involving commercial passenger vehicles is
significantly fewer-typically less than 30 (commercial passenger vehicle
occupants only) each year--but recent crashes in Louisiana and New Jersey,
among others, have also heightened public concern about the loss of life in
such incidents.

DOT's motor carrier safety responsibilities primarily reside in its Federal
Motor Carrier Safety Administration, created by the December 1999 Motor
Carrier Safety Improvement Act. The act established this new modal
administration to give motor carrier safety increased attention and stature
within DOT. It also authorized additional funding for grants to state
agencies to help ensure compliance with federal and applicable state motor
carrier safety rules (primarily through roadside inspections and compliance
reviews), provided additional enforcement tools, and required a strategic
plan and periodic progress reports. Prior to the motor carrier
administration's creation, DOT's motor carrier safety responsibilities were
administered within its Federal Highway Administration.

DOT Has Not Yet Developed a Clear Strategy

to Reduce Large Truck-Related Fatalities

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has developed a draft Safety
Action Plan aimed at reducing large truck-related fatalities by half by
2009. However, it does not yet have a clearly defined strategy to achieve
this goal, which DOT set 10 months ago. As a result, the Department's
efforts fall short in three ways. First, the motor carrier administration
has not articulated how individual actions, or sets of actions, in this plan
will measurably contribute to reducing truck-related fatalities. Second, the
Department has not fully implemented our June 1999 recommendation to
prioritize the individual initiatives contained in the plan according to
their potential for reducing truck-related fatalities. Finally, the motor
carrier administration has not developed multiyear estimates of the human
and budgetary resources it will likely need to carry out its Safety Action
Plan.

To meet the Secretary's goal of reducing truck-related fatalities by 50
percent, DOT has developed a draft Safety Action Plan that it views as its
blueprint for this effort. The latest draft of the plan was created in March
1999 and contains 67 individual action items, such as gaining an in-depth
understanding of the causes of truck-related crashes. These 67 items--that
are either underway or planned--address a variety of areas related to large
truck safety. The motor carrier administration considers the plan's 67
items, which include enforcement, regulation, and advanced technology, to be
the most important activities--in terms of reducing crashes, injuries, and
fatalities--that it has underway. DOT expects to issue a revision to the
plan this spring.

In response to requirements contained in the Motor Carrier Safety
Improvement Act of 1999 and the Government Performance and Results Act of
1993, the motor carrier administration has prepared a draft annual
performance plan that contains, among other things, estimates of the
resources it needs for fiscal year 2001. The motor carrier administration
anticipates issuing a strategic plan as part of the Department's overall
strategic plan in September 2000.

DOT's draft Safety Action Plan is a useful first step in meeting the
Secretary's ambitious goal. However, the motor carrier administration has
not articulated how individual actions, or sets of actions, in this plan
will measurably contribute to reducing truck-related fatalities. Such an
articulation would be useful because it could help the motor carrier
administration focus on those activities that have the potential to make the
largest contributions in reducing truck-related fatalities, rather than
those that might make lesser contributions.

In our June 1999 report to this Subcommittee, we questioned the prudence of
DOT's embarking on numerous activities in its draft Safety Action Plan
without prioritizing them (such as identifying those activities that would
make the greatest contributions to safety or those which necessarily needed
to precede other actions). Motor carrier administration officials told us
that the revised Safety Action Plan would address our concern about
prioritizing its efforts by listing areas of emphasis among the plan's
initiatives.

Finally, DOT's planning efforts have also not addressed our June 1999
recommendation on determining whether it can reasonably expect to have the
budgetary and human resources necessary to carry out all the activities in
the Safety Action Plan. For example, the motor carrier administration
recently cited one of its initiatives--the Performance and Registration
Information Systems Management (PRISM) program--as its premier enforcement
program. PRISM links state motor vehicle registration and licensing programs
with DOT's commercial vehicle safety efforts. PRISM is intended to improve
safety by providing states with information that would allow them to suspend
or revoke registrations for motor carriers with poor safety performance.
Currently, 12 states are participating in PRISM, and the motor carrier
administration plans to have an additional 12 states participate by 2003.
The motor carrier administration does not believe it can have more states
involved before then because, according to agency officials, (1) it has not
developed a comprehensive marketing program for PRISM and (2) it does not
have sufficient staff to conduct the necessary training, technical
assistance, and other administrative tasks needed to respond to every state
agency that might express an interest in participating in the program.
Currently, the motor carrier administration has assigned only about two
full-time equivalent staff to PRISM. As a result, motor carrier
administration officials told us that DOT may not meet its 2003
implementation goal.

The Motor Carrier Administration Is

Acting to Improve Truck and Bus Safety

Since we last appeared before this Subcommittee a year ago, several
developments have occurred that could potentially improve commercial motor
carrier safety. These include (1) improved accountability for motor carrier
safety within DOT, (2) increases in DOT's enforcement and compliance
activities, and (3) the progress DOT has made on some individual initiatives
in response to recommendations made by us and the Department's Inspector
General.

New Modal Administration Established With More Focused Accountability

After passage of the December 1999 act, DOT moved quickly to set up the new
modal administration. In early January, the Secretary of Transportation
approved an organizational structure for the new agency. The Secretary of
Transportation has installed the former Acting Director of the Office of
Motor Carrier Safety as Acting Deputy Administrator and Acting Chief Safety
Officer for the motor carrier administration, and staff members are serving
in all office director positions on an interim basis. The remaining motor
carrier administration staff have also been transferred from its predecessor
organization. However, several leadership positions, including the
Administrator and four Associate Administrators, are currently unfilled. The
agency is currently operating at previously established funding and staffing
levels and receives administrative support from the Federal Highway
Administration.

The establishment of the motor carrier administration within DOT enhances
visibility for motor carrier safety because it places the motor carrier
administration on a par with other modal administrations within the
Department. Moreover, the agency's new organizational structure-which
features an Associate Administrator for Enforcement and Program Delivery
(currently, the position is vacant) and an Office Director for Enforcement
and Compliance (currently, the position is filled on an "acting"
basis)--supports a greater emphasis on enforcement and compliance. In
contrast to its predecessor organization, which was within the Federal
Highway Administration, field operations now receive instructions directly
from the Associate Administrator for Enforcement and Program Delivery,
thereby reducing the potential for conflicting instructions. In addition,
beginning in fiscal year 2001, the agency will have attorneys and support
staff in four regional service centers whose sole responsibility will be to
enforce compliance with truck safety regulations. Previously, these
attorneys performed legal work, including truck safety work, for the Federal
Highway Administration as a whole.

The motor carrier administration's new organizational structure also
features a separate division for commercial passenger vehicles--the
Commercial Passenger Carrier Safety Division (the chief of this division is
in place). In January 2000, the agency issued a guide to field investigators
which, according to the division's chief, should help target investigations
to where they are most needed. In addition, the division chief supports the
development and use of new safety-related technology, such as electric
brakes and self-centering steering, and anticipates improving the data on
passenger carriers to, among other things, enable the agency to better
identify trucks and commercial passenger vehicles.

Increased Enforcement Activity

Over the past year, in part in response to criticisms by this Subcommittee
and the DOT's Inspector General and in response to recent legislative
changes, DOT has increased its truck safety enforcement and compliance
activities. In April 1999, DOT issued guidance to its enforcement and
compliance staff responsible for truck safety that called for increasing (1)
the number of compliance reviews (from two to about four or five per month)
that each staff member would be expected to conduct and (2) the civil
penalties assessed for violations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Regulations, in accordance with the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st
Century. For example, DOT increased the number of federal compliance reviews
at motor carrier offices by about 30 percent--from 5,147 in fiscal year 1998
to 6,654 in fiscal year 1999. During the same period, the number of
enforcement cases that generally stem from compliance reviews rose from
2,444 to 2,899-an increase of nearly 20 percent. Also, the amount of civil
penalties assessed per case increased by over 50 percent from an average of
$3,750 in fiscal year 1998 to $5,775 for the fourth quarter of fiscal year
1999.

Some Progress Has Been Made on Initiatives Important to Reducing
Truck-Related Fatalities

While additional work remains to be done, the motor carrier administration
also appears to be making some progress on several initiatives that it
considers to be important to meeting DOT's goal to reduce truck-related
fatalities:

   * Our June 1999 report and previous reports concluded that states were
     not providing crash data to DOT in a timely manner. This information is
     needed to allow DOT and the states to make informed enforcement and
     investigation decisions. In 1997, we recommended that the Secretary of
     Transportation identify barriers that prevent the states from providing
     complete and timely data and work with them to develop a strategy for
     addressing each barrier. In response to this recommendation, DOT has
     requested all the states to submit plans to improve their crash data.
     According to a motor carrier administration official, all of the states
     and the District of Columbia have submitted plans and, while their
     quality varied, most of the plans were reasonable and some were
     comprehensive and well thought-out. Currently, the agency is contacting
     the states to determine the extent to which they have implemented their
     plans. To improve the quality of the data used to target its
     enforcement resources, the motor carrier administration is planning to
     establish new incentive programs in 2001. These programs would provide
     the states with monetary awards for (1) providing accident and
     inspection data within a specified amount of time and (2) reducing the
     number and the rate of truck-related accidents and fatalities in their
     respective states.

   * Under the Large Truck Crash Causation Project, which is intended to
     result in a national database on the causes of or contributing factors
     to large truck crashes, DOT has studied the feasibility of conducting
     the project and has selected four pilot sites to test their
     data-gathering methodology. The pilot program is expected to begin this
     June, and the full test is expected to begin in January 2001. The motor
     carrier administration views this project to be essential to reaching
     DOT's long-term goal because the database would enable the motor
     carrier administration to develop and implement countermeasures to
     reduce the occurrence and severity of large truck crashes. As we
     reported last year, having timely, reliable and sufficiently detailed
     information about the causes of these crashes is essential to develop
     and implement truck safety strategies. The ultimate success of this
     project will depend on the states' providing this information to DOT.

   * The Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks (CVISN) program
     is intended to provide enforcement officials with greater access to
     current safety and interstate credentials information (e.g., liability
     insurance and vehicle titling), the ability to better target problem
     carriers and commercial motor vehicles, and the ability to check
     carriers' safety and credentials history at the time of registration.
     The motor carrier administration's overall goal is to have CVISN
     deployed in a majority of the states by September 2003. To date, three
     states are expected to complete initial deployment by the end of fiscal
     year 2000; two states are expected to achieve initial deployment by the
     end of fiscal year 2001; and another five states are in various stages
     of completing deployment. In addition, 20 states are currently
     participating in a series of workshops designed to provide them with
     information on how to implement and deploy the CVISN program in their
     states. The motor carrier administration plans to have at least 16 of
     these 20 states reach the initial deployment stage by 2003.

Conclusions

Although the Secretary's 10-year goal to reduce large truck-related deaths
by over 2,600 per year is admirable, it will likely not be achieved at the
pace that DOT has moved in the past. Achieving the Secretary's goal will
require more than 20 times as much progress in reducing these fatalities as
was made in the previous decade. DOT has begun to take some preliminary
steps toward achieving the Secretary's goal. The Department has, among other
things, increased the number of compliance reviews of motor carriers, taken
a harder line on enforcement, undertaken efforts to improve the data on
which it makes decisions, and has moved quickly to put a new organization in
place to carry out the requirements of the 1999 Motor Carrier Safety
Improvement Act. However, other essential steps, such as developing a
comprehensive, prioritized strategy to improve truck safety and filling
leadership positions, have not yet occurred. Finally, to achieve real and
lasting progress, it will be important for DOT to demonstrate to the
Congress and to the public that it can follow through on its efforts over
the long term to achieve significant measurable improvements in motor
carrier safety.

_ _ _ _ _

Mr. Chairman, this concludes our testimony. We would be pleased to answer
any questions that you or other Members of the Subcommittee may have.

Contact and Acknowledgments

For information regarding this testimony, please contact Phyllis F.
Scheinberg at (202) 512-3650. Individuals making key contributions to this
testimony include Leonard Ellis, James Ratzenberger, and Charles E. Wilson,
Jr.

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