FMCSA increases safety grants by 52%

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will award $463 million in safety grants to states in an effort to reduce commercial motor vehicle crashes.

FMCSA and the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the effort on Thursday, June 2. The announcement follows a recent preliminary report from the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration that said large truck fatality crashes increased by 13% in 2021.

“We are using resources available through the president’s bipartisan infrastructure law to award more funding than ever before – a 52% increase from last year – to help prevent truck and bus crashes in every state and territory,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a news release. “These grants will help improve the safety of our trucks and buses and save lives on our nation’s roadways.”

The Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program grant program includes funding to state and local law enforcement and other government agencies for safety inspections of trucks and buses, investigations of motor carriers in response to safety concerns and audits of new trucking and bus companies.

All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands will receive federal funds.

“FMCSA’s core mission is safety, and our work supports the U.S. Department of Transportation’s comprehensive National Roadway Safety Strategy working toward zero fatalities on our roadways,” FMCSA acting Administrator Robin Hutcheson said. “MCSAP grant funding is an important tool to help reduce large truck crashes by supporting critical CMV safety programs in every state.”

NHTSA estimates that nearly 43,000 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes last year, up from nearly 39,000 in 2020. Specific to large trucks, fatal crashes involving at least one truck went up 13%. Overall traffic fatalities were projected to increase by 10.5%.

It also is worth noting that the large truck fatal crash statistics aren’t exclusive to heavy-duty tractor trailers. At a safety summit in Kansas City, Mo., this week, FMCSA Associate Administrator Darrell Ruban said that 15% of large truck fatal crashes in 2020 involved Class 3 trucks weighing 10,000 to 14,000 pounds. LL