WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has awarded more than $70 million in grants to states and educational institutions to enhance commercial motor vehicle safety.
“Our shared goal of a safer transportation system is a top priority,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao. “These grants will further assist state and local officials in their efforts to prevent commercial motor vehicle crashes and injuries each year, and have the potential to save hundreds of lives.
“In addition, the department is proud to recognize the sacrifices of our nation’s heroes by providing more veterans with the opportunity to contribute to the safety of our roadways through training grants for the next generation of commercial drivers,” Chao said.
The following grants were awarded:
- $41.5 million in High Priority (HP) grantsto enhance states’ commercial motor vehicle safety efforts, as well as advance technological capability within states
- $30.7 million in Commercial Driver’s License Program Implementation (CDLPI) grantsto enhance efforts by states to improve the national commercial driver’s license (CDL) program
- $1 million in Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training grantsto nine education institutions to help train veterans for jobs as commercial bus and truck drivers.
The High Priority grant program consists of HP-Commercial Motor Vehicle grants designed to provide financial assistance to state commercial vehicle safety efforts, and HP-Innovative Technology Deployment grants that provide financial assistance to advance the technological capability and promote the deployment of intelligent transportation system applications for CMV operations.
“Safe drivers lead to safer roadways, and safer roadways ensure that our loved ones return home at the end of their journey,” said FMCSA Deputy Administrator Daphne Jefferson. “These grants will help ensure that our state partners have the tools and resources they need to support FMCSA’s mission of reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses.”
A full list of this year’s HP grant awardees can be found at https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/mission/grants/hp-cmv-grant-recommendation-summaries-2017.
The Commercial Driver’s License Program Implementation (CDLPI) grant program provides financial assistance to states to achieve compliance with FMCSA regulations concerning driver’s license standards and programs.
Additionally, the CDLPI grant program provides financial assistance to other entities capable of executing national projects that aid states in their compliance efforts, which will improve the national CDL program.
The goal of the national CDL program is to reduce the number and severity of commercial motor vehicle crashes in the United States by requiring states to conduct knowledge and skills testing before issuing a CDL, maintain a complete and accurate driver history record for anyone who obtains a CDL, and impose appropriate disqualifications against any driver who violates certain offenses.
This effort is directly linked to FMCSA’s focus on reducing crashes, injuries and fatalities involving large trucks and buses.
A full listing of this year’s CDLPI grant awardees can be found at https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/mission/grants/cdlpi-grant-recommendation-summaries-2017.
The Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training grant program awards grants to a variety of educational institutions that provide commercial truck and bus driving training, including accredited public or private colleges, universities, vocational-technical schools, post-secondary educational institutions, truck driver training schools, associations, and state and local governments, including federally recognized Native American tribal governments.
The nine FMCSA grants are projected to provide training for more than 350 students. A full list of the grants can be found at https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/mission/grants/cmvost-grant-recommendation-summaries-2017.
