As a result, enforcement would be unable to maintain the progress that has been made and large truck-related injuries and deaths could tick upwards, said Capt. Steve Dowling, president of CVSA. Some private bus operators engaged in interstate travel can be subject to road checks. Meanwhile, most states individually handle inspections of public school buses.

Dowling urged Congress to continue to focus funds on enhancing the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP), as there is FMCSA data indicating that roadside inspections and traffic enforcement have a clear and substantial safety benefit, and are providing a tremendous return on the investment of tax dollars. The association recommend making the safety grant programs more flexible and streamlining the administrative and delivery processes.

Speaking before the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit during a two-day hearing March 29 and 30, Dowling outlined a number of areas to enhance motor carrier safety and recommendations for streamlining and providing a razor focus to programs. These recommendations included: Flexibility and Streamlining of Motor Carrier Safety Grant Programs; Maintenance of Effort (MOE); Bus Safety; Carrier Exemptions from Motor Carrier Safety Regulations; Truck Size and Weight; Motor Carrier Safety Technologies; and, Carrier Registration, Credentialing and Data Integrity.

According to CVSA, some regions need to focus on the crashes caused by drivers following too closely, speeding, and unsafe lane changes by both the car and the truck or bus. In rural areas, the crash picture is heavily influenced by fatigued driving. States should have the flexibility that would allow them to focus the necessary resources on what problems they are experiencing. Tying into this is the MOE requirement for MCSAP, a formula provided for in SAFETEA-LU which currently operates as a disincentive to states to expand existing programs and create new and innovative approaches to motor carrier safety. CVSA recommended the MOE formula be tied to a stationary period, specifically three fiscal periods preceding the enactment of the Motor Carrier Improvement Act of 1999 and indexed for inflation.

To address the number of recent, high-profile bus-related crashes, CVSA recommended the removal of the current restriction in SAFETEA-LU prohibiting roadside bus inspections except in the case of an imminent or obvious safety hazard. States need the ability to inspect buses randomly just as they do trucks, which currently they are not able to do. Lifting this prohibition alone could avert many potential crashes by allowing enforcement to be more proactive. FMCSA also should study whether the current hours-of-service rules for motorcoach operators are adequate, and, if warranted, propose changes for motorcoach operations.