Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is the newest agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation. Formerly a part of the Federal Highway Administration, the FMCSA was established in January 2000, to provide greater flexibility in addressing the growing public concern over truck and bus safety issues.

Our job is to reduce the number, and consequences, of large truck and bus crashes on the nation’s highways. This involves regulating nearly 500,000 companies, 7 million trucks, and 10 million drivers. We plan to do this using direct-Federal safety programs, expanded funding for State and local enforcement agencies, and through close partnerships with other highway safety agencies, the motor carrier industry, safety advocacy groups, and other interested parties.

During its first six months, the FMCSA has been organizing itself in preparation for significantly enhanced staffing, increased funding, and expanded authorities in its effort to achieve a 50% reduction in large truck related fatalities by 2010.

Our next step is to hire the best people available to get the job done! We anticipate hiring many professionals in a variety of career paths to help us achieve our goals. So if you are interested in joining a dynamic and growing organization working to save lives on the nation’s highways, please read on.

This is a photo of a truck on the highway

What We Do . . .

The FMCSA currently consists of more than 700 dedicated employees located in more than 70 offices located in every State throughout the country, and Puerto Rico. Nearly 80% of our employees are located in field offices, implementing safety programs. These include:

. . . In the Field

Federal Enforcement and Compliance Programs

The Administration conducts compliance reviews and enforcement activities on motor carriers identified as “high risk.” It is the principal means of ensuring that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and the Federal Hazardous Materials Regulations are being implemented by the industry. Within FMCSA, these activities are conducted by Federal safety investigators, who successfully complete an intensive 6 weeks of residential classroom training at our National Training Center, and generally work in partnership with experienced investigators during the first year of employment. Our investigators are not armed, but they are protected from harm by Federal law. These positions usually have significant promotion potential.

International Enforcement Program

The FMCSA is responsible for assuring that motor carriers entering the United States through our Northern and Southern borders are mechanically safe and their drivers are physically qualified, consistent with the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It supports programs aimed at improving the safety performance of motor carriers operating in border areas through special grants to States for enforcement activities and, in cooperation with other Federal agencies, it supports the development of State safety inspection facilities. The FMCSA currently maintains a Federal presence on the southern border conducting strategic roadside inspections to supplement the State activities. The number of Federal inspection personnel will be significantly increased in the near future due to program demands.

Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program

This is a Federal grant program that provides State and local highway safety agencies each year with funding for highway safety activities, including more than two million roadside inspections, to reduce the likelihood of accidents and hazardous materials incidents involving Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMV). The program promotes the adoption and uniform enforcement of safety rules, regulations, and standards compatible with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and Federal Hazardous Materials Regulations; for both interstate and intrastate motor carriers and drivers. This program is managed locally by Federal specialists and managers located in each State.

Safety Action Programs

Safety Action Programs include those nonenforcement safety programs used to influence safe operating behavior by the large majority of motor carriers operating on the highways. They generally consist of educational and outreach highway safety initiatives directed at motor carriers, CMV drivers, shippers, and other motorists. Our belief is that drivers do not want to become involved in crashes. Given the sheer size of our regulated customers, combined with the fact that drivers of cars, SUVs, motorcycles, etc. are cited as the cause for more than half of the CMV-related crashes, these multi-media programs do much to educate the industry and general public of safe operating practices as they “share the road” with each other. These programs also involve significant partnering with Federal, State and local highway safety agencies, safety advocacy groups, and industry associations.

This is a picture of a bus on the highway

. . . and in Headquarters

In addition to the activities primarily conducted by our field staff, FMCSA will be hiring additional people to staff new and expanded offices within the new organization.

Data and Analysis

The FMCSA collects, analyzes, and disseminates safety and compliance data concerning the commercial motor carrier industry. Data are collected with custom-designed software by Federal safety investigators and state partners from roadside inspections, crashes, compliance reviews, and enforcement activities and are uploaded to the Motor Carrier Management Information System. Combined with data from other sources (including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), analyses are conducted to identify high risk carriers, measure the effectiveness of current programs and evaluate the costs and benefits of proposed regulations. FMCSA safety data and analysis results are available to the public at multiple websites, all linked from www.fmcsa.dot.gov.

For vacancy announcements visit: www.fmcsa.dot.gov; www.fhwa.dot.gov; or www.usajobs.opm.gov

Safety Regulations Development

The FMCSA is also responsible for promulgating regulations for the motor carrier industry in order to address situations which contribute to the severity of CMV crashes. These regulations generally address drivers, vehicles, and motor carrier operations, but also lead us to partner with other Federal agencies regarding highway configuration, traffic control devices, and other factors effecting highway safety. Regulations developed by FMCSA are generally enforced by its field staff.

Research and Technology Programs

The FMCSA identifies, coordinates, and administers research and development to enhance the safety of motor carrier operations, commercial motor vehicles, and commercial motor vehicle drivers; and involves public and private partnerships for using information systems, innovative technologies, and business practice reengineering to improve safety, simplify government administrative systems, and provide savings to states and motor carriers. FMCSA is heavily involved in developing intelligent technology to improve the efficiency of commercial operations with improved safety benefits.